


Disclosure

by JWade



Series: Asgard [3]
Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-21 04:26:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 33,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11936283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JWade/pseuds/JWade
Summary: Third in the Asgard series. Sam (Hjert), Dean (Styrk), Gabriel (Loki), and Thor are now kings and have to contend with running a kingdom, politics, and the threat of war with heaven.





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was just beginning to rise when the last of the stragglers were leaving the ball and the four kings collapsed exhausted in their rooms. Never had they been so glad that they had no need of sleep. The kingdom had needed the celebration, but there was still much work to do. They had four hours before the next meeting of the court, and Loki decided that it would be a good time to deal with some other rather urgent business. Business that they could do while sitting. Yes. The sitting was a must. “We should use this time to call Anael in for a private conference. The situation with the free angels is just waiting to blow up in our faces.”

“How so?” Hjert asked curiously. 

“Currently, they are technically rebels of heavenly rule. We have a treaty with heaven. Now that we are rulers, giving aid to their rebels could easily be considered a breach of that treaty. Father had to reveal that we were at least in contact with them given Styrk’s relationship with Cas, and it’s only a matter of time before they find out just how close that contact is. As tempting as it is to let it come to war, Father didn’t want that and we should try to remedy the situation before it comes to that point.”

“So, we have to cut them off?” Styrk asked distastefully. 

“Or they will have to become an independent society and then we will be free to deal with them as such,” Thor told them, which sparked a discussion of their options. 

Thirty minutes later found the four of them sitting on their thrones, with Cas in attendance in the meeting area since the free angels were as much his project as Anael’s. Styrk was glad that it wouldn’t be much longer before he and Cas completed their bond and the ex-seraph would be able to join him on the dais. Mattie summoned Anael to come at her earliest convenience which they all knew would be very soon and sure enough it wasn’t ten minutes later that she arrived and knelt before the kings. 

“Rise Anael,” Loki said with a warm smile. “I’m sure you’re wondering why we called you here,” he said as he waved a hand and a second chair appeared for her to sit in. 

“I am curious, your highnesses,” she said returning the smile. She had considered for a moment congratulating them on their ascension, but given the circumstances of said ascension, decided that it would be in poor taste. She knew it was something regarding business, however, since they were meeting formally in the throne room. 

“We find ourselves in a bit of a bind with the free angels. You see, we have a treaty with heaven, and our aid and knowledge of your group are in violation of that treaty,” Thor started. 

Anael felt her heart drop. Only her long training in controlling her emotions kept her from showing the fear and despair she felt welling up inside her as she looked to Loki with pleas for help shining in her eyes. “Don’t fear, Anael. We will not betray you, no matter the decision reached here. You and your people must simply make a choice. You can renounce your claim and status from heaven and become an independent society that we can then treat with, or we must cut off all contact and offer no future aid. Either way, anything already given is still yours and all secrets already known will remain with us.”

“If we renounce heaven, we will fall,” she pointed out sadly, thinking that this was an impossible decision. She didn’t think that they could survive for long on their own, on the run from heaven with no possible relief or assistance from any of the pagan peoples, since all of them were bound by the same treaty. On the other hand, to ask all of her people to fall…it went against everything they were trying to build. Unless… “You will make yourself known and bring all of the free angels into your service?” she asked Gabriel hopefully. 

“No,” he said firmly. “In fact, as I am now a ruler of Asgard, I no longer have the option of claiming my angelic heritage again. However, there is a very little known statute that allows an archangel to declare a delegate in the event that they are unable to carry out their duties. Should I bestow that status on you, then you will be able to take people into your service, in my name, so that they do not fall. Should you choose to take that path though, they will not know who I am now or who I used to be. I will allow you to tell one deputy so that, should you fall, someone else will know to reach me to take over as my delegate.”

“They will wonder how I am able to take them into my service,” she pointed out. 

“You may tell them that you are a delegate, but you may not say of whom or how long you have held that status. You will let them believe as they wish, but neither confirm nor deny any of their questions on the matter. My current status and former life must remain unknown. That is not negotiable,” Loki told her. He didn’t know what reaction his brothers would have to his continued survival, nor the other pagan peoples should his heritage become known. It was far too much of a risk. More people knew already than he was comfortable with. 

Anael considered the matter for a long moment. Selling such a drastic solution to her people without being able to give them any information would be difficult, but would they truly understand the danger of going ahead with no support or aid? “What do you wish me to do, brother?” she asked desperately, not as a leader speaking with a king, but as a sister asking her big brother for help. 

Loki smiled softly at her. “That isn’t for me to say, little one. This is a decision your people must make for themselves. They are the ones who must live with the consequences. It is up to you and them what type of society you wish to build,” he said gently. 

Anael took a deep breath and centered herself, getting into the correct mindset of a leader. “If we do renounce heaven, what sort of assistance can we expect?” 

“Should you become an independent society, we will see you at the negotiating table to draw up treaties between our peoples. I can guarantee you that you will at least have a pact of neutrality and non-military assistance with Asgard. The other pagan societies will have the opportunities to create similar pacts. We can only have a full alliance with the support of all of the pantheons though, so I cannot promise that,” Thor told her. 

“Why is that?” she asked curiously. 

“Because a full alliance would mean that your enemies are our enemies and anyone attacking you would bring us into the war. Should we enter the war, the other pagan peoples will be put into a difficult position deciding whether to aid us or step back. Given the fact that your only major enemy will likely be heaven, that will not be a war we can win without all of the pantheons behind us and even then there would be no guarantee. Entering a war without them would just spell our own destruction and they would know that, making their position all the more difficult. That is the purpose for a formal treaty as well. As long as our treaty with you doesn’t conflict with our treaties with heaven, we will have that protection to point to should heaven take umbrage with our assistance and will not be able to hold it against us,” Hjert explained. 

Anael nodded. When it was put like that it was obvious. She could attempt to reach a full alliance with the pagans, but in truth as long as she had Asgard as much on her side as possible, she was sure they would be alright in the long run. If she could get at least the same neutrality from all of the pagans, even that would be a great help. “What do you think, brother?” she asked Castiel. 

“You know I am not your brother anymore Anael,” Cas said sadly, not noticing the pain in Styrk’s eyes as he did. This was why he insisted that he be here. Cas was feeling so lost now, not being an angel anymore. The mortality would soon be remedied once the bond was completed, but he felt like he no longer had a place to belong. 

“You will always be my brother Castiel,” Anael told him firmly. She HAD noticed the pain in Styrk’s eyes and knew that it was up to her to tell him what she was sure the others had many times already and hope that it meant more from her. “This whole venture was your idea. Your work. You have given everything for every one of us, and there isn’t a single free angel in the community who doesn’t honor your sacrifice. To all of us, you will always be a part of us, grace or not, so yes. I would like your opinion and I’m sure the others will ask me as well what your opinion is.”

“I believe that the only way for the free angels to remain free is to become an independent society. That is the best option. The only downside is the fact that should Loki fall, so too will all of you, but I think we can all agree that such an outcome is not likely,” he said with a sly smile knowing that the archangel turned pagan king was nothing if not a survivor.

“I will take the recommendation to my people. How long can you give me to make the decision?” she asked the assembled kings. 

“As soon as possible,” Thor told her. “I hesitate to give you a deadline because I know that such things take time, but the longer we are all unprotected, the more chance of something going wrong. Since heaven now knows that we have been in contact with you, we don’t know how much time we have.” 

“We won’t be able to meet with you again until and unless you become a free people though. We shouldn’t even be meeting with you now. That’s why this is a private conference,” Dean told her apologetically. 

“How will I be able to get word to you?” she asked. 

“You may leave me a message at the interdimensional house. I will check daily,” Loki told her. 

“Thank you,” she said as she got up to leave with a final bow and a hug to Cas.


	2. Chapter 2

Once Anael had left, they managed to relax for about thirty minutes before the council arrived. They had decided that Styrk, as the least comfortable with the crown, would handle the majority of the scripted parts for the time being so he wouldn’t feel obligated to answer questions or make any unscripted speeches in order to participate. “First, we want you all to know that your service to our father has been invaluable and we appreciate it greatly. We would be honored if you would all continue your services for us. We will understand should you wish to retire and will make changes accordingly, and in the future, we may make more changes to fit our differing styles and opinions, but for the time being at least, those who advised our father are more than welcome to do the same for us. Would any of you like to take this opportunity to retire?”

The god in the first seat got up and knelt before the kings. “My lords, I have served since the formation of the council, from the time your father first placed the crown on his head and took the weight of our people on his shoulders. I swore that as long as he reigned I would stand by his side, but I am ready to move on to other things now. I don’t believe I am ready to face this castle without him,” he said apologetically. 

“I completely understand, Forsetti,” Thor told him gently. “You have served longer than any before you. You stood by my father’s side for his entire life, even before Asgard came to be. You have more than done your duty. I hope you know that you, and any of the rest of you that choose to leave us, will always be welcome in the castle.”

“Thank you, my lords,” Forsetti said softly as he retook his seat. 

Forsetti was the only one who had been there since the beginning, but he was not the only one to retire. In the end, the kings would have to replace six of the twenty advisors and none of them had much idea who to choose. Thankfully no one had to be chosen immediately so they could take their time and they spent the remainder of the day kicking around ideas, but nothing was really decided yet.

The next morning, they met with the castle staff that wished to retire, which was only a few of them, thankfully not including Mattie. They agreed to stay on until replacements could be found and word was put out that they needed new castle staff so that people would begin putting in applications. That was finished around midday, and there was nothing else that needed their attention at the moment, so Sam and Dean went to visit Bobby. 

They appeared in fire and ice in the forest outside the salvage yard and walked up to the door. Bobby opened it after the first knock and ushered them in. “How you boys doin? How do the crowns feel?” he asked wryly. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his boys were kings now. 

“Heavy,” Sam said with a weary sigh. 

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown huh?” Bobby said with a light chuckle. 

“Something like that,” Dean said with a half-smile. “The mourning period ended two days ago and it feels like we haven’t had a moment to breathe since then.”

“Since there’s nothing else right now that requires all of our attention, we decided to slip out to see you and give you this,” Sam said handing over a pendant on a string. 

“What is it?” Bobby asked as he put it on, slipping it under his shirt. 

“It serves two purposes. It’s a key to Asgard. Just say, ‘take me to Asgard’ and it will bring you to the castle entrance hall. You will have free reign but you will have to wear the pendant outside of your clothes while you’re there. It shows everyone that you have our permission to be there and our protection,” Dean told him. 

“You trust me with this?” Bobby asked wide-eyed. He knew they had come a long way since that first visit when he had been searched and guarded the whole time, but this was beyond what he was expecting. 

“We won’t always be able to drop everything now if you need us, so this way you can get to us if you get in trouble or even if you just want to visit. More than that though, you were the closest thing dad had to a friend, and the closest thing any of us have left to a father, so yes. We trust you,” Sam told him. In truth, it had been a bit of a hard sell to Thor to get approval for it, but it was less because of Bobby in particular, and more because that distrust and even fear of humans in general ran very deep. 

“Will I be able to bring anyone else with me with this thing?” Bobby asked curiously. “Ellen and Jo have been dying to see Asgard.”

Sam chuckled. “I would suggest letting us arrange a time for them to visit. Anyone or anything other than you that gets transported with you will immediately be shunted to the dungeons and the alarms will sound in the whole castle.”

“So, if some demon or monster gets ahold of me as I’m leaving…”

“It’ll end up in the dungeon and we’ll take care of it,” Dean told him. “You can also use it if you run across a god running amok, just make sure you’re right about it first.”

“Well thank you boys. I do appreciate it. I don’t know that I’ll be going out in public in Asgard much, but it would be nice to be able to visit you without having to wait for a lift,” Bobby told them. “One other thing we need to consider, though. Since I doubt you’ll have much time for hunting, people are gonna notice you missing.”

“Get the word out that we died. If we ever do get time to hunt, we can always take up new identities, but that’s not very likely for at least a very long time if ever. As far as anyone in this world knows other than you, Ellen, and Jo, we might as well be dead,” Dean said. 

“And tell Ellen and Jo if they can be here a week from today, we can take them to visit Asgard. If not, we’ll try another time,” Sam suggested. 

The three of them spent a few hours catching up, Sam and Dean talking about Asgard, Bobby talking about hunting. It seemed that the effort to get hunters to stop seeing gods as monsters was making slow but steady progress. No one knew that Bobby was in contact with gods, much less friends or even family with some of them. As far as they knew he had unearthed some old lore and hunter’s journals. If they had known the extent of his involvement it would likely have worked against them. He would have been considered tainted and untrusted. As it was though, more and more hunters were starting to open their minds a bit. Those in the know had even noticed a slight increase in power lately. Not enough to notice normally, but they were actually looking for it. Faith was rising, though worship was still lacking. Every little bit helped though. 

The hunters would never be enough to get them back to full power. There were too few and they only had influence over the American hunters, but if, someday, all hunters could come to worship, they could get a portion of their power back. Only once the gods were walking amongst the humans again could the bridges be mended completely, but neither they nor the humans were ready for such a step, if they would ever be. The wounds were still too raw, the fear too great…on both sides. Hunters though…they straddled the line. They were human, yes, but they lived in the supernatural world. They saw more than others did, and knew things that others never would. It remained to be seen whether there would ever be a relationship once more between the hunters and the gods, but the first steps had been taken. The conversation ended up taking a turn towards the pagan power supply and the theories and hierarchies of power that were only touched on in the books that Odin had given Bobby. Granted, Sam knew more on the subject than Dean did, but Dean was no slouch either. He may not be the bookworm that Sam was, but he was far from stupid and that happened to be a subject that interested him enough to learn. It was nearly midnight before Bobby started getting tired and Sam and Dean left him alone to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking seriously about giving Bobby a goddess of his own so he can be immortal with them. What do you guys think? Too much?


	3. Chapter 3

Once they made it back to Asgard, they found Thor, Loki and Cas in the games room locked in a three way game of something that was a cross between air hockey and pinball moving at speeds too fast for the human eye to follow. Styrk wasted no time dragging Cas away and back towards their room, barely giving him time to hand his side over to a laughing Hjert. Now that everything was stable and settled, at least for the moment, Dean apparently had no intention of waiting one more minute to complete their bond. “Guess I’m taking Cas’ place,” he said shaking his head and they continued to play until the sun came up and Loki headed off to check their old house for a note from Anael before they were due to meet with the remaining council members to discuss replacements. 

It seemed that the free angels had reached a decision. They renounced their claim to heaven and became independent. Loki left a note for Anael that he would schedule a treaty summit of all the pagan leaders and let her know when it would be. He also left her a basic proposed treaty between the free angels and Asgard as they had discussed since that much wasn’t in question. If she wanted to negotiate any points it would be done at the summit, but it would be the base at least and she would have a chance to look over it before the summit. 

It took nearly the entire day before they had the six council members replaced with Tyr, Freyja, Lofn, Bragi, Kvasir, and Snotra. They felt they had a good balance between the new members. Two of love, Freyja and Lofn; two of war, Tyr and Freyja; two of inspiration, Bragi and Kvasir; rounding it out with Snotra, goddess of prudence. Considering also that Tyr and Snotra were sticklers for the letter of the law and Lofn and Bragi were far more loose and believed that with a good enough reason the rules could and should be broken, and they had a wide range of advice available. The remaining council members were divided similarly. One of Odin’s greatest lessons that he passed onto his sons was that only when you had as many differing opinions as possible offering discussion could you come to the best decision and every point of view is valuable, even if it’s only for helping to see what NOT to do. 

The next day was spent reviewing applications for the open positions in the castle along with Bjorn, the chief of staff. In Asgard the royals were always a part of the process since they would see the staff often, and liked to have good working relationships with them. Bjorn did have plenty of practice with streamlining the process though. Those who were undesirable, unqualified, or did not pass the background screening were immediately thrown away and interviews were set up back to back with the remaining candidates. All in all, it only took half the day to replace the nine staff members that retired and the remainder of the day was spent at the fairgrounds. 

Then was the formal seating of the new council members, and once they were seated, the crowning of Castiel as King consort, which could only be done with the full council. That was a day full of pageantry followed by a feast and then introducing Cas to the kingdom in his new role. Styrk drew the line at another ball though making the others laugh. If it hadn’t been so soon since the last, they likely would have fought him on it, since it was traditional, but it had only been a few days since the last ball and none of them were quite ready for another yet. The annual winter solstice ball would be soon enough to celebrate with the kingdom. Styrk had been careful to skip them since he became a prince, but now that he was king, he would have to preside with the others, which caused enough of a huff. None of them wanted to draw his ire by insisting on this one. 

The next few days were much more relaxing each of them took the time to take a day off, Loki and Hjert took a day together as did Styrk and Cas, and Thor took his alone. They wanted to make sure to get that time to themselves because the day after that started the treaty summit which could take weeks and since it took place in a room that operated outside of time they wouldn’t be able to leave. It would take all of the royals working together to stop time within that room, which was necessary since they all had duties to their people and they couldn’t leave them all without leaders for weeks at a time for these negotiations. Granted, Loki could have just created a new dimension where time doesn’t move, but that would necessitate telling the royals that he was an archangel and that wasn’t an option. 

They entered the large opulent room with the long table in the center and mingled with the other royals while they waited for Anael and whoever she named as her second to arrive. The petitioner was always given the latest arrival time to prevent them from either running afoul of hostile intentions or attempting to sway others to their point of view before proceedings began. Once they arrived, the royals banded together and began to chant and a flash came over the room and the introductions began. “Thank you for seeing me, your highnesses,” Anael said kneeling before them along with another man. “I am Anael, leader of the free angels and this is my second Ezekiel.”

The rest of the royals went around the table introducing themselves to the angels, some with more warmth than others before they were motioned to sit, thus opening the summit and allowing for the first protest to be aired. “I fail to see what we are doing here. We already have a treaty with heaven,” Zeus said shortly, feeling that this whole thing was a waste of time and not inclined to give this angel anything. 

“We have a treaty with heaven, yes, but the free angels are no longer associated with heaven. They have created their own community independent of their bretheren and wish to treat with us as individuals,” Loki said. 

“And what will heaven think of such things? Are we supposed to tempt war with the entire might of heaven for the sake of a few renegades?” Quetzalcoatl asked, annoyed. 

“Since when do we seek heaven’s permission for our actions? You wish to go kneel before them and give up your freedom and your people then be my guest,” Thor said heatedly. 

“Peace, brother,” Loki said, placing a hand on Thor’s arm to keep him from losing his generally short temper. 

“There is nothing in our treaties with heaven that would prevent us from making treaties with anyone else, ‘renegades’ or not. As long as they have ceased any affiliation with heaven, we are well within our rights to treat with them separately,” Hjert pointed out. 

“Besides, it’s not like those bastards deserve much consideration,” Styrk grumbled. 

Juno tilted her head in curiosity at the antagonism the kings of Asgard were feeling towards the angels. Only two of them were being overt about it, but for those who knew where to look, the others were showing signs of hostility as well. “Perhaps I have missed something, but last I knew we were on rather neutral terms with heaven, yet I sense a great deal of hostility from Asgard,” she said pointedly demanding an answer. 

“This is something that our father did not want made known publicly. The free angels know because they were a part of it, and the rest of you, as royals have a right to know, but I will ask that you will not make this story known to your people,” Thor said looking around the room and noting the nods all around in agreement before he nodded to Loki. He still had trouble telling the story without either choking up or losing his temper or both, so he would let his more level headed younger brother tell it. 

“A few weeks ago, Castiel, Styrk’s soulmate, was captured by heaven while recruiting for the free angels. He was tortured and was slated for execution once they had all the information they wanted from him. Father went to bargain for his release. He gave them leave to enact any punishment they wished for any offenses against them, just that Castiel be released alive and himself at the end of it so that he could be returned to his soulmate. When they said that they needed answers from him first, Father freely gave them all of the answers that they were looking for from Castiel, as much as Castiel knew that is, and asked for mercy. Their response was to order Castiel’s immediate execution. He and Styrk already had a partial bond and while it wouldn’t have killed Styrk, it would have destroyed him just the same so Father asked what he could offer for Castiel’s life. The only payment Michael would accept was Father’s life in return, without affecting any of the treaties, and he would give us Castiel stripped of his powers and human.”

There was an uproar along the table and the enraged and indignant voices all drowned each other out to such a degree that no one could understand anyone else, until Jupiter had enough and banged his fist on the table. “QUIET!” he roared and no one dared disobey, though some of them huffed a little at the idea of being ordered around. “I, for one, have a few questions. Did heaven know that Castiel was Styrk’s soulmate and that they had a partial bond?” 

“I don’t know if they did when they captured and tortured him, but Father told them at the start of the meeting, so yes, they knew well before they ordered his execution, and then Father’s in his stead,” Styrk said. 

“So, they essentially forced him to trade his life for his son’s,” Aditi said, aghast. “That was no agreement made in honor or peace. It was an attack on all that we hold dear. No matter Castiel’s status or citizenship at the time. The treaty may not have been broken in fact, but it was certainly broken in spirit.”

“What is to stop them from finding weaknesses for the rest of us and forcing us to deal on our lives? Hera asked nervously. The fact that none of them had such weaknesses outside of their own people who were already protected under the treaty didn’t matter. The idea that it could be possible if they had such weaknesses, and more importantly, that heaven proved that they would exploit those weaknesses, was enough to set them all on edge. 

“Father asked that we not go to war over his death. He said that he wanted his death to bring peace, not war. We intend to honor his final wishes,” Hjert said in a tone that made it clear that he would love nothing more than to tear heaven apart stone by stone anyway. 

“As will we,” Dagda said with a note of finality, looking around and daring anyone to disagree with him. “However, I move that should any of us be asked for such a sacrifice in the future, it will be denied and the treaty will be considered broken, regardless of any other facts of the case.” That, no one had any trouble agreeing with. Heaven would get one free pass, and they already used it. 

“Needless to say, anything less than breaking the treaty, we would love to get one over on heaven, and aligning ourselves with the free angels is the perfect way to do so,” Thor brought the conversation back to the point and brought out the proposal he had given to Anael. The treated neutrality and non-military aid separately among the kingdoms, and only if they all agreed would the pagan people’s as a whole offer military assistance. There was no agreement on military assistance though. Zeus and Hera refused to align the Greeks so closely with any angels, free or not. Danu and Dagda and Jupiter and Juno simply didn’t think it was their place to commit their people to fighting for another race, but promised to reconsider the matter should the free angels ever have their own fighting force to contribute in a partnership. Adhiti and Brahma, like the Asgard’s saw the free angels as fledgling children who could be crushed in their infancy without support, but could grow greater than all of them with nourishment and assistance. Quetzalcoatl just liked the idea of going to war so he didn’t really care either way. 

After three days of discussion, sometimes quite heated discussion, they had to agree that they would find no consensus on the matter and turned to the individual treaties. Since most of the work was already done on the treaty with Asgard, they went first with a little fine-tuning and it only took a day before they were signing it. The others used that treaty as a baseline and they moved on to negotiations with Adhiti and Brahma since they were the most sympathetic and would likely take most of not all of the suggestions in the Asgard treaty. In the end, the differences between the two were minor and they moved down the line. The Greeks offered the least in a basic non-aggression pact. The only main difference between that and the treaties with heaven was that they did offer emergency assisted if necessary for as much time as it took someone else to take them off their hands. They would not turn and walk away should a free angel be injured and dying. 

All of the others offered full military neutrality, along with varying degrees of non-military assistance and diplomatic ties. Styrk suggested Cas as ambassador to the free angels which took a bit more discussion. On one hand, he was familiar with them and their ways, having been one of their leaders until the unfortunate incident that cost them Odin. On the other hand, he was a king. The idea of a king, even a king consort, serving as a simple ambassador was well below his station. In the end they all agreed, though some of them reluctantly, that Castiel would be the ambassador between the free angels and all the pagans. As a member of neither and with similar loyalties to both, he really was the best choice for the job. When they finally released the time spells on the room and were free to leave, two weeks had passed by their reckoning and they returned to their homes a few minutes after they left.


	4. Chapter 4

Things settled into a routine over the next few weeks as the new kings settled into their roles with grace and dignity, excepting a few stumbles along the way. Styrk still occasionally struggled with foot in mouth syndrome in particular, though they all had their little quirks that sporadically made themselves known at bad moments. Rather than cause a scandal though, people felt it made their kings more ‘human’ so to speak. 

Three weeks after the treaties were set with the free angels, Mattie came rushing in as court was ending with an urgent note for the kings. Thor took it from her as he was the closest and no sooner than he read it, it was like a switch flipped from happy gregarious Thor, to thunder and lightning and someone is going to die any minute Thor. Loki quickly pulled the note from his hand before it was lost to Thor’s temper, and anyone who knew him well would notice the tightening of his eyes, the instant tension in his posture and stiff set of his jaw that said that internally, he was in much the Same shape as his brother. Hjert just waited patiently, knowing that Loki wasn’t in danger of destroying the note at least so he would tell them as soon as he could manage to speak. Judging by the whiteness of his knuckles there wasn’t much chance of getting it out of his hand without ripping it anyway. 

It seemed like an hour, but in reality was only a minute before Loki managed to speak. “Michael,” he spat the name, “has requested an urgent audience claiming the peaceful summit between leaders clause.”

“If I go it will be anything but peaceful,” Styrk said heatedly, and there was no doubt that the Same could be said for Thor. 

“Loki and I will go,” Hjert said evenly, knowing that they, at least, could hold their tempers and not kick off a war. 

Thor nodded tensely, knowing that there was no choice. “If anything seems off, at all, you come straight back here. Treaty or no treaty, you will take no chances with your lives, understood?” 

Loki and Hjert both nodded. “Seriously, Hjert. Even if it’s just him attacking the two of you, I don’t care. Don’t try to take him out, even if it seems like you have the upper hand. Just get back here anyway,” Styrk told him, knowing that Hjert was more likely to stay and fight than Loki was. 

“We will,” he promised.

Before they could leave Thor trapped them both in a crushing hug. “You both damn well better be safe. I swear,” he said shakily. 

“We will come back Thor. You have my word,” Loki said pulling back to look his brother in the eye seriously, and Thor nodded. Styrk clapped them both on the shoulder before Hjert reached out his hand to Loki and they vanished in a flash of ice. There was no point in drawing suspicion by Loki flying them in. 

They landed a bit away from the requested meeting place and Loki looked at Hjert and raised an eyebrow. Something was definitely off, but it wasn’t something that would be bad for them so they continued through the shield blocking the senses of angelic grace. Thankfully they didn’t know at the time that this was the Same clearing that Odin had died in as they stepped in and saw Michael slumped against a tree holding his stomach and clearly in pain. Loki felt like he was being pulled in two different directions by the sight. Part of him was filled with worry for his big brother and what could have possibly injured him like this, while the other part of him wanted nothing more than to finish him off while he was weak. It only took a glance at Hjert to see that he was in much the Same boat. His overdeveloped sense of compassion was warring with his hate. Finally, Loki managed to speak. “What do you want?” he snarled. 

Michael’s head snapped up before he winced in obvious pain from the motion. “I come with a…warning and…a request,” he managed to say through the pain. 

“A request!? You dare ask us for ANYTHING!?” Loki said as he lost his hold on his temper, part of the way at least, and dragged Michael to his feet, slamming his back against the Same tree he was slumped against. 

“Lo,” Hjert said warningly, not that he didn’t want to do the exact Same thing, but this was a very delicate situation that could go very badly, very quickly, and that warning part made him even more nervous. 

Loki growled and all but threw him at the ground and Michael didn’t even have the strength to get up. “Raphael…wants…war. I…need…asylum,” he managed to gasp out before he lost consciousness. 

Hjert wanted nothing more than to say hell no to the asylum and toss him back to Raphael in pieces, but his practicality said that Michael could have information. Information that they would need to protect their people. They couldn’t just throw the opportunity away. They couldn’t let their personal feelings come before their duty. He fell beside the fallen archangel and reached out with his senses to gauge his injuries and gasped. If they didn’t hurry, he was going to die, and Hjert knew he couldn’t save him alone. “Loki, I need your help.” 

Loki was staring in horror at the tree he had just held Michael against. The tree that Michael had chosen to hold his weight while he waited for them. More specifically the smatter of blood on the tree surrounding the indention that was clearly made from the tip of an archangel blade. He reached out a hand to touch it as if in a trance as he felt his heart being ripped out of his chest. Just as his hand made contact, he heard his bonded calling his name again, a little more frantically this time. “Don’t ask me to save him, Sam. Don’t…don’t ask…” The fact that he slipped into calling him Sam instead of Hjert spoke for how far gone he was. 

Hjert looked at Michael and then back at Loki for a moment as if to make a decision before he got up and pulled his lover tight. “I know, Lo. I know, but we need him. We need to know what he knows, or all of us could be next,” he said firmly before stepping back. “Please Lo.”

Loki took a deep steadying breath and then nodded, swallowing around the lump in his throat before walking over to where Michael was laying. He reached out with his pagan powers and carefully knit the archangel back together. Not much. Just enough that he would survive. But he would certainly feel pain. If he had summoned them anywhere else, he may have eased the pain at least a little bit. He may have healed him a little bit more than he did. If he hadn’t brought them HERE, he might have shown a shred of mercy. 

Loki gave one last glance to the blood soaked tree before he grabbed Michael’s hand and flew them to the entrance hall of the castle, Hjert following right behind in time to hear Loki address the guards. “Put it in the dungeon and summon me when it wakes up,” he snapped before he stormed back into the hall where they were sure that Thor, Styrk, and Cas were still waiting for them. 

This time, Hjert spoke before Loki could manage to stop fuming enough to do so. “We have a problem,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Michael is in the dungeons. He asked for asylum.”

“He WHAT?!” Styrk roared. 

“You brought that…that…THING here?!” Thor asked looking like he was ready to implode. 

“He also brought us a warning. It seems Raphael wants war and tried to throw a coup. He was near death when we got there. We need to know what he knows,” Hjert tried to reason with them. 

Thor, much as Loki had when Hjert made the argument to him, took a deep steadying breath before he said, “He doesn’t leave the dungeons and I will not go see him. He is your project,” Thor said shortly before turning to leave, Styrk nodding at the pronouncement before following him, Cas in his wake. 

That was the last straw for Hjert as he collapsed on his throne like a puppet whose strings had been cut and the tears began to flow. He felt like he had just lost something precious as his brothers just turned and walked away from him. Did they think he wanted to argue for the life of the thing that killed his father? Loki wasn’t the only one who noticed that tree. He was just trying his best not to think about it. If it weren’t for the warning…the fact that a living Michael could help him save all their people…he would have happily stood there and watched him die in the same clearing their father did. They all acted like he was betraying them. He FELT like he was betraying them. 

As soon as Loki saw the tears on Hjert’s face as he sat unsteadily on his throne, he waved a hand and sealed the throne room. Only the other kings could enter. No one needed to see him fall apart like this. He stepped towards the throne as his husband’s sobs grew in both volume and strength, and he knelt in front of him, and pushed a hand up through his hair. “Oh, my sweet Hjert. I’m not angry with you. Neither are they. We’re angry at Michael. We’re angry that you’re right. That we need him alive. But we’re not angry at you. In fact, we’re grateful to you. Well, I am, and so will they be once they calm down enough to see it. You’re the only one of us who managed to keep your head. Who managed to put our people before vengeance. Duty before personal feelings. I’m sorry, Hjert. I’m sorry I put all that on your shoulders. I should have been by your side. I’m so sorry,” he was whispering by the end and he pressed his forehead against Hjert’s as the younger god fought to regain his control.


	5. Chapter 5

“Come, Hjert. Let’s go visit Father,” Loki said with a sad smile as he flew them to the burial grounds behind the castle. He didn’t want to keep them locked away, if for no other reason than he needed to be available when the guards came to inform him that Michael was awake, and no one would think less of any tears shed by a grave. That and he needed to feel close to him right now. They had all avoided this place like the plague since the ceremony. It was time. 

Hjert fell to his knees in front of the statue, not having had enough warning to get his feet under him, even if he were capable at the moment. His fingers reached out and traced the engraving, lingering over ‘Beloved Father’ as he felt Loki’s arms wrap around him. “Thank you, Lo. For understanding. For not thinking that I’m…that I’m a traitor…even though I feel like one,” the last part was said in a barely audible whisper.

“You are NOT a traitor, Hjert. You are just the opposite. I know we all have our moments but today…today you were a better king than any of us,” he said firmly as they got to their feet to look their father ‘in the eye’ so to speak. 

“Loki’s right, baby brother,” he heard as he felt another set of strong arms wrap around him from behind as Thor’s chin came to rest on his shoulder. “He would have been proud of you today. I know I am. You are so much like him, you know,” Thor said as a few tears leaked out and he turned his head letting them fall against Sam’s neck. 

No one could say anything at that, so they stood in silence for a few minutes before Hjert asked, “Styrk?”

“Isn’t ready to come out here yet,” Thor answered before sighing. “I don’t know if he ever will be.” 

Hjert just nodded and turned his head pressing a kiss to his big brother’s temple. “Thanks, Thor,” he whispered just before they heard a throat clear behind them. 

“I apologize for interrupting, my lords, but you wished to know when the prisoner woke,” Bjorn said apologetically, sparing a reverent glance to the statue behind them. 

“Thank you, Bjorn,” Loki said before reaching a hand out to Hjert. 

“You don’t have to come…”

“Yes. I do,” Loki said firmly. Loki could see the question in Hjert’s eyes wondering if it was so that he didn’t end up putting all the weight on his shoulders again or because he wanted to confront Michael, or because he wanted to get the information first hand, or for some other reason. Loki didn’t answer the unspoken question because the truth was that it was all of those reasons and none of them. He couldn’t really put into words why he felt the need to go, but he did. 

They appeared in the hallway outside the dungeons and descended the stairs. They couldn’t enter or exit the dungeons with their powers, and all powers within the cells were turned inward so there was no escape or attack possible. They even worked on archangels. Loki had helped his father test them when they were upgraded. Michael’s grace could heal him, albeit slowly, but he couldn’t use it against them in any way. 

They stood outside the cell, arms crossed and Loki ordered, “Talk.”

“Raphael expected war after…after we let Castiel go…but it never came and he was angry about that. I had to order him to keep to the treaty. When…when we got notice that the pagans had a peace treaty with the free angels…he was livid. I told him that they renounced heaven. We had no more claim on them. He didn’t want to hear it. He just kept getting more and more rebellious, but I never dreamed…He burst into my office…told me that I was weak and frightened…said that I didn’t deserve to lead…and then he…he attacked. I managed to get away and put up wards to keep him from finding me and I sent the message to you.”

“Why?” Hjert asked coldly. “Why warn us? Why do you care?” 

“Because if he takes them to war, they will die,” Michael said sadly. “Maybe we would win. Maybe we wouldn’t, but no matter the outcome, many of them will die. Too many. If there were just cause…if we HAD to fight…it would be different…but this is senseless. I can’t let my brothers and sisters throw their lives away for nothing. I hoped…hoped that you would have mercy…on them at least.”

“What is it you want us to do?” Loki asked, softening just a touch. This was almost the big brother he left. He was here to save the young ones. To protect them like he should. 

“I want you to help me heal and stand by me while we take out Raphael,” he said with more strength than he had shown thus far, but still not able to get up off the floor, but he was sitting up a bit straighter. 

“You expect us to let you go? You realize that by asking for asylum, you willingly placed your fate in our hands. You are no longer protected by any treaty,” Loki pointed out. 

“It doesn’t matter. I’m dying anyway. When Raphael is gone, I will make sure they don’t wage war anyway. It will be chaos. They will be without a leader. They will be lost and confused and scared, but they will be ALIVE, and that is all that matters. If you wish to execute me after I give my last orders, you are welcome to. It would be easier than just wasting away.”

“I healed you enough to keep you alive,” Loki pointed out grudgingly. 

“I don’t mean from the wounds,” Michael told him sadly. “My grace…it’s been…withering. I’ve been getting weaker. Raphael could never have hurt me so badly otherwise. I wouldn’t need your help to stand against him if I were still capable of standing alone, but you must know that you can’t stand against him without me either.”

“What happened to your grace?” Hjert asked curiously.

“I don’t know. I would think Raphael did something if I didn’t know it was impossible. At least it should be impossible. I don’t see how he could have…I just don’t know.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed as he surreptitiously scanned his brother’s grace and he could see that he spoke the truth. Michael was starting to nod off, and he knew they wouldn’t get much more out of him right now. They had to discuss their options with the others anyway, and send out a warning to the other pantheons to be on alert. As they turned to leave, Michael perked up again for a moment and croaked out, “Please.” They turned around. “Just help me save them. They…are…innocent,” he said as he lost consciousness again. 

They managed to get out of the dungeons before Loki’s legs buckled underneath him. Hjert knew how much the thought of his little brothers and sisters affected him and he had been waiting for that and easily caught him, and transported them in a flash of ice directly to their room and set Loki on the bed before walking out to the common room of their suite, hoping that he would find Thor, Styrk, Cas, or any combination of them there. He was in luck as he saw Styrk and Cas sitting on the couch deep in conversation. “Can you guys go see Mattie and have her get the word out to everyone to be on their guard?” 

“I already did,” Styrk told him. “Did you have any more information to add?” 

“Nothing concrete enough to send to them,” Hjert said. “We all need to talk soon, but first…” he looked towards the room and Styrk, knowing that he had been with Loki, suspected that Michael had said something that threw him for a loop so he just nodded in understanding and Hjert gave him a grateful smile as he rushed back into the room and rushed to Loki’s side to see the silent tears streaming down his face. He lay down next to him and pulled him close. “I’m here, Lo. Everything’s gonna be okay,” he whispered soothingly. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

Loki shook his head, knowing that if Sam couldn’t see it, he would at least feel it. He didn’t even know how to put it into words. Hearing Michael fighting so hard to save the young ones, hearing him offering his own life as payment for help, knowing that he was dying anyway. He had been so ready to kill Michael himself…so ready to walk away and let him die back in that clearing…but now…no matter what else happened, no matter what else he had done…he was still his brother…and now…he was almost the brother he used to be. The one who would do anything to protect everyone else…and now he was dying. And worse than that…if they couldn’t stop it…so many more would die.


	6. Chapter 6

Loki managed to pull himself together and when he and Hjert emerged from the room, they found Styrk, Cas, and Thor waiting for them. Loki took a deep breath before he began the explanations. At the end of the story all were deep in thought. “If we can take out the head of the snake before it strikes, we can save many lives on both sides,” Thor said thoughtfully. “What are the chances of pulling it off?” he asked Loki since his brother would have a better idea of the capabilities of archangels and how Michael’s grace was doing. 

“IF I go archangel and reveal myself to Raphael, we can do it,” Loki said distastefully. 

“And should we fail, he won’t hesitate to tell the whole world what you are, not to mention anyone he brings with him or anyone we have to bring with us. We’d be talking full on rebellion if your true status got out. Not an option,” Thor said firmly.

“Then we got nothing. Michael’s not strong enough for much. Even with him at our side, with our pagan powers, we would get steamrolled,” Loki told them.

“Then why is he even suggesting it? It’s not like he knows what you are. He must know we have no chance just as well as you do,” Hjert asked. 

“Maybe it’s just a last ditch effort on his part. Maybe he’s overestimating his own strength, I’m not sure.”

“Or maybe he’s just hoping to take us down with him when he dies,” Styrk suggested. 

“Possible, but I didn’t sense any deceit from him…Hjert?” Loki asked. 

“No, I didn’t either. I mean he may not have told us everything, but he does believe we have a chance and he’s doing this to save his younger brothers and sisters. That much was clear,” Hjert added. 

“But since he’s wrong, what other options do we have?” Thor asked. 

“Short of healing his grace so he can fight, nothing,” Loki said running a hand through his hair. 

“Is that possible? To heal his grace?” Hjert asked almost hopefully. 

“Technically…yes…but it’s easier said than done,” Loki said with a touch of frigidity in his voice. 

“How?” Styrk asked. 

“I would have to anchor his grace with my own…” Loki started before he was cut off. 

“So, we’re back to you revealing yourself?” Thor asked distastefully. 

“It’s either to Michael or Raphael and we have Michael at our mercy. We can demand an oath of silence first and he can’t do a damn thing about it. No, that’s the easy part,” Loki told him. 

“Then what’s the hard part?” Hjert asked noticing how Loki didn’t want to say it. 

“The anchor can’t take if there are any bad feelings between us. The only way to heal his grace and save us all, is if I forgive him. For Father, for what he’s done to the younglings, what he’s turned heaven into, and what he did to me,” Loki said slumping in defeat. 

“Maybe if we can find out what Raphael did to his grace we could…” Styrk started. 

“Raphael didn’t do anything. He couldn’t have. Michael is just in denial. The ONLY thing that could cause an archangel’s grace to rebel would be if they committed an ‘ultimate betrayal’. Whether he wants to admit it to himself or not, he’s done something bad enough to make his grace turn on him completely.”

“Worse than torturing and brainwashing his brothers and sisters? Killing Father maybe?” Hjert suggested.

“The timing fits, but I don’t see how that could be. I mean, yes it was a betrayal, but worse than anything else he’s done? Enough to make his grace rebel against him? No, there has to be more to it than that,” Loki told them. “Father wasn’t exactly the first person he’d killed in cold blood. Hell, he’s had his armies wipe out entire civilizations.”

Thor sighed heavily. “I don’t see that we have a choice. You have to try to forgive him. We will heal his grace and use him to defeat Raphael. Then we can execute him.” 

“You really think I can manage to forgive him?” Loki snarled at the very idea. 

“I think we don’t have a choice,” he reiterated. “I think it’s a good thing I’m not the one who has to try. You have to do what you must, as long as you don’t ever even think to ask me to forgive him.” Thor stormed out of the room at that. The very thought of any of them forgiving Michael was enough to make him want to destroy things. 

Hjert bit his lip nervously. He knew this was going to blow up in their faces. If Loki did manage to forgive Michael, he would be expected to stand by and allow him to be executed once they were done with him. If he didn’t forgive him it would mean war, and way too many losses, and Loki would feel the losses on both sides. It was a lose/lose situation for Loki and Hjert had no idea how to help him. He wondered if Loki had realized the implications yet. He hoped not. He would gladly put that particular storm off as long as possible. 

Styrk headed outside after Thor. They could both use someone to spar with. Cas headed to bed since it was already pretty late. He was finally getting used to being human. That left Hjert and Loki sitting on the couch in silence as they both tried to wrap their heads around the complete clusterfuck their lives were becoming. After a while, a note appeared in Loki’s hand and he sighed. “Michael is awake again,” he said in dismay. 

“Let’s go,” Sam said as he started to get up. 

“No. I need to go alone,” Loki cut him off. 

“But…”

“Please, Hjert. If I’m going to do this it has to be alone. At least for now.”

Hjert nodded and sat back down. “If you need me…”

“I know.”

 

Loki took a deep breath before heading down the stairs to confront Michael who was sitting in the corner of the bare cell, still looking like hell. “You realize that your grace is too weak to even begin to take on Raphael, even with us at your side,” he said shortly. 

“It has to be enough. It…it’s all we have,” Michael said desperately. 

“You know Raphael didn’t do anything to it. You betrayed yourself. You did something to make your grace turn on you. What was it?” Loki asked harshly. 

Michael looked away, and Loki could almost see the tears glistening in his eyes as he said softly, “It doesn’t matter.”

“I don’t care,” Loki snapped. “You are here, in our dungeons, at our mercy, asking for our help. If you want it, you will answer every question we ask, honestly and completely, or I will walk away and throw you back to your brother. Now what did you do?” 

“I killed my son, okay!” Michael said brokenly. “I…I killed my son,” he whispered as he hugged his knees to his chest. 

“Your son?” Loki asked in shock. “You have a Nephilim? They’re forbidden!”

“They weren’t then,” he said sadly. 

“But that would mean…” Loki trailed off in horror. The Nephilim became the first gods. Their father was a first god. Michael had killed him. Odin was… Loki turned and fled the dungeons. He couldn’t do this. Once he was clear of the anti-transport wards he flew to the training grounds where he knew that Thor and Styrk would be. He didn’t often feel the need to lash out, but this was one of those rare times. 

Thor noticed to look on Loki’s face as he arrived and gave a terse nod and he and Styrk faced off against Loki. The following battle was brutal and destructive and Loki wiped the floor with them both. Even their own super healing couldn’t keep up with the abuse and it was two battered and bruised gods, who caught Loki as he finally collapsed a few hours later, sobs pulling from him against his will. Thor looked worriedly at Styrk and they transported him back to their apartments. Hjert jumped up in alarm at their states when they arrived and quickly took Loki from their brothers. “Come on, Lo. Talk to me love. What happened?” 

“Father was…was Michael’s son. That why…his grace…he killed…his own son.” There was nothing more to be said at that and Sam just held Loki tight as fresh anger washed through them all. This had been a very long day. Had it really just been that morning when they got the summon from Michael and all this mess started?


	7. Michael's story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tissue warning. Have them handy. you will need them.

Once he was alone again, or as alone as he would ever get here where he was sure that there were invisible silent guards watching him, Michael finally let his tears fall. It had seemed so easy to kill Odin. He had a secret Michael wanted kept and needed something from him. It was the perfect solution. He had ignored that twisting feeling in his gut as he drove his blade into his son’s heart and he continued to ignore it as long as he could. He pretended that he didn’t see his son standing straight back and proud and looking him in the eye as he waited for death. He pretended that the words ‘you will know’ didn’t echo through his mind day in and day out. He hadn’t cared about anything in a long time. Not since he lost everything. Why would he care now? He didn’t know else to do but keep pretending that he didn’t care. Now he was dying though. He was dying and he couldn’t help but take a good long look at his life, and he hated what he saw. 

Once Loki managed to get himself under control he looked at his brothers and winced before giving them an apologetic smile and reaching out to heal them. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. 

Thor laughed. “Remind me never to piss you off, little brother,” he said ruffling Loki’s hair. He’d truly never seen Loki like that. Even when they were at each other’s throats, Loki had always played a primarily defensive game. Thor had never been so thoroughly thrashed, especially with another god at his side. 

“I think we should all take a few hours to just relax and have some fun. This whole day has been emotionally exhausting, and I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m about to burn out,” Hjert suggested. 

The others agreed so, after leaving a note for Cas, they made their way to the fairgrounds as the sun was coming up. It was after midday before they headed back to the castle, feeling much more refreshed, and Loki decided to take another go at Michael. It wasn’t like there was anything else that could blindside him so completely. This time, Thor, Loki, and Hjert all went. They wanted answers. They wanted to know why. Styrk still refused to face him. Even to get answers, and while part of Cas wanted to be there, part of him also wanted to stay as far away from Michael as possible, so when given the choice whether to be there for Styrk or not, it was no contest. The two of them headed to the games room to wait until the others were done. 

The three of them headed down the stairs, towards Michael’s cell, but Thor stopped dead at the bottom of the steps, as soon as Michael came into view, and sucked in a sharp breath. Hjert didn’t notice and kept going, but Loki realized as soon as he heard the almost inaudible, “No…” his brother breathed out so he stopped and looked back to where Thor seemed frozen. He desperately hoped he was misinterpreting the look on his face. This was the last thing they needed to make an impossible situation even more impossible. 

Hjert, oblivious to the turmoil in the room, or at least misreading it, stopped in front of Michael’s cell as asked, “Why? Why would you kill him? What did he ever do to you?” 

Michael’s gaze was rivetted on Thor, and he couldn’t help but answer, so he began to explain. “I hadn’t felt anything in so long…and then he’s there…standing in front of me telling me that he knows I’m his father and since he’s never asked me for anything before that I owed him…he said…he said he never wanted any connection to me…that he hated me. It…it hurt and I…I didn’t know how to deal with it. It had been so long…and it made me vulnerable…weak. The only thing I could think to do was get rid of it. It didn’t…didn’t work though. It just…it made it worse. I can’t…I’m dying…and I can’t help but think I deserve it. I just…want to save as much as I can before I go.” He never took his eyes off Thor during the explanation, despite the tears running down his cheeks.

Before anyone could say anything else, Thor turned without a word, stomped up the stairs and slapped the door so hard that the ceiling cracked and dust rained down on those who were left. “Well, fuck,” Loki said breathlessly, realizing now that his first horrible thought had been right. He had the overwhelming urge to track down fate and beat her senseless right now, but there were more important things right now. Now it was more important than ever that he find a way to work through this with Michael and save him. For Thor’s sake. Someday he may regret throwing away his soulmate, and Loki was determined to give him every chance to fix things on his own should he ever choose to. He at least knew that Michael wouldn’t likely be executed now, though he just might spend the rest of forever in a cell. 

“Lo?” Sam asked, obviously confused. 

“Later, love,” he promised. “Why don’t you go check on Thor? Make sure he’s not destroying the castle or anything.” He knew that Thor wasn’t likely to open up to Sam, or anyone really, anytime soon, so Loki would still have to explain what just happened, but Loki knew that his brother was more likely to be wandering around feeling lost than destroying anything, and Hjert was far better at helping him through such things than Styrk or Cas could ever be. Besides, he still felt like he could make more progress talking to Michael alone. Once it was just the two of them, Loki sat crosslegged on the floor outside the cell and asked, “Why did you stop feeling?”

“Why do you care?” Michael asked without any heat. “Why are you sitting here talking to me and asking me about all this stuff. I can understand wanting to know what happened to your father, but you know now. Why are you still here? Don’t you think that I might want to keep my weaknesses to myself?”

“Weaknesses?” Loki laughed tensely. “You’re at the mercy of your enemies, sitting in a cell, and dying. How could you possibly get any weaker than that? Your chances of getting out of here and being able to die on your feet with any pride at all depend on you getting me to understand you.”

“Why you?” Michael asked curiously. He knew there were four brothers, for all that he’d only seen three of them, but he wasn’t sure why this one was the one that his fate hinged on. 

“Maybe you’ll find out one of these days, maybe not. But enough changing the subject. Why did you stop feeling?” 

“Because I lost everything,” Michael said sadly, hugging his knees to his chest again before he began his story. “I…I had a twin once. We were the best of friends. We did everything together. He and my father were my whole world. But then he was twisted by a curse and cast out; locked away forever. Beyond my reach. Beyond anyone’s reach. I tried so hard to save him, but my efforts…they cost me my father too. He left. Just abandoned us all, and I was left to raise my brothers and sisters alone. I mean, I still had Raphael and Gabriel at that time, but Raphael wasn’t the type that you would ever trust around children, and Gabriel…I couldn’t help but see him as a child still himself. He just had that persistent innocence and joy about him, but I’d still lost my other half in Lucifer, and my guiding light in my father, and I felt so alone. I found comfort in, of all places, a young human woman. She too had known loss and hardship, and we helped to heal each other and then we had a son and I finally felt whole again as I held him in my arms.”

Michael choked up a little and Loki was kind enough to give him a moment to get himself together before he continued. He could use a moment to wrap his head around this new angle on the past too. He knew that after his first father had left, that Michael had been gone a lot, but he hadn’t known why. He wondered if anyone knew. It was also rather difficult to listen to Michael talk about how he saw Gabriel way back then. He wondered how it went from that to torturing him into submission. 

“My son…I was so proud, but I didn’t dare let anyone know. Since I had met Brighid, I had already been encouraging the others to mingle with humans, in hope that they could find some measure of the happiness that I had, and mind wasn’t the only child born of such unions, but I was the ruler of heaven. My son would be a valuable prize for any enemies, so I kept it quiet. Eventually we realized how dangerous the children were. How the angelic grace and human soul caused instability. My son, my joy, my life…he killed his mother, along with an entire village just in a normal childhood tantrum, and he wasn’t the only one, though as the strongest, his was the worst. I immediately made it illegal to mix with humans and we rounded up all the children to keep them locked away safely until a solution could be found.”

“You just locked them away, with no contact with any adults, no help, no explanations, nothing,” Loki said accusingly. He knew this part of the story. 

“It wasn’t malicious, though I can see how it may have seemed that way. Perhaps we could have done more, but all of us parents, myself included, spent every possible second trying to find a solution and knowing that if we did find one, we still wouldn’t be able to keep them and worse, if we couldn’t find a solution, we would have to destroy them. We couldn’t let ourselves get any more attached. Being separated from my son after four years of his life nearly destroyed me. Being separated from him after ten would have been a hundred times worse, so we poured every ounce of energy into finding a way to save their lives.”

“You could have had others look in on them, teach them, play with them, something,” Loki told him. 

“They were too dangerous!” Michael said desperately, begging this god to understand. “Angelic grace powered by a human soul made them more powerful than any seraph. Even we archangels would have been hard-pressed to handle one of them on a tear much less the hundreds that there were. The rooms they were in were warded to withstand their power, and they were strong enough to withstand each other, but how could I send my brothers and sisters in to possibly die just to make them feel better? How could I allow the children to be responsible for more deaths than they already were for a simple matter of comfort? If their lives were in danger, things may have been different. I know I would have laid down my life for them in an instant, as would any of the others, but to risk our lives for anything less would have been wasteful and destructive for all of us.”

Loki had to admit that he could almost understand that. He would have taken the chance and wished that he had paid more attention back then too. He knew that the Nephilim had been brought to heaven and were being kept segregated for their safety, but he’d had no idea how poor those conditions were, nor did he really think much on it, having spent all of his time with the angelic children. He hated to admit that he shared some blame in that situation too. 

Michael let out a sigh of relief when he saw the terse nod from the god who was interrogating him. He could see that he still wasn’t happy about it, but at least he seemed to understand. “We finally did find a solution and we did our best for them. We kept them split up so that there were older kids in each group to help the younger ones survive. We couldn’t let them too close to humans. Not until they learned control over their new powers, so they ended up having to go to places that most humans couldn’t or wouldn’t go, and we had to let them go. I will never forget the last time I saw my son, not realizing that he remembered me from his earliest years, and the look on his face as he realized they were being abandoned, the fear and betrayal in his eyes as I disappeared. That was the last time I allowed myself to feel…anything.”


	8. Chapter 8

“What about your brothers and sisters? You couldn’t even bring yourself to feel anything for them? You had to take away their feelings too?”

“I was protecting them,” he protested. “How could I not after seeing first hand how emotions would tear you apart? I was just supposed to allow them to be just as destroyed as I was? I gave them a purpose and took away all that could hurt them.”

Loki very much disagreed with Michael on that point, but he was starting to understand him at least. That didn’t mean he was anywhere near forgiveness for any of it, and there was still one big question he needed an answer to, but he couldn’t just come out and ask it. He needed to know Michael’s justifications for everything that was done to him. “And you could just take it away from them like that? All of them?” 

“I…no…not all of them,” Michael said looking down at the floor. “Not…not Gabriel.” Loki could tell that Michael was fighting tears again. “I…he…Gabriel was…he was pure joy and laughter. Of all of them, he was the one I least wanted to see as broken as I was, but I didn’t know how…he was too strong for me to take his feelings like I did the others. I…I needed to teach him the hard way, but I couldn’t. I’m surprised that my grace didn’t turn on me then. Maybe because I couldn’t do it myself…I asked Raphael for help. I handed sweet little baby Gabriel over to my most sadistic brother. That, more than anything else, I regret. I never dreamed he would go so far. When he told me that Gabriel was…was gone…that broke the last tiny shred of emotion I had left.”

Loki couldn’t manage to form any words. He just had to get away from here. Now. He got up and left without a word and went up to their suite and pulled Hjert off to their room and laid down on the bed and just curled up in his husband’s arms. Hjert gave him some time to get his head back together and seemed to know that he didn’t want to talk about that right now, so he changed the subject. “So, what happened down there with Thor? I couldn’t get much out of him that made sense.”

Loki sighed. “Just when you think fate’s found a new toy to play with she throws you for a loop again,” he said wearily. “Thor and Michael…they’re soulmates.”

“Wait…what?!” Hjert asked eyes going wide in shock. “Are you sure? How do you know?” 

“I’m fairly certain. I recognized that look on Thor’s face from when I met you, and the way they didn’t take their eyes off each other…yeah. I’m almost certain that’s what it was.”

“So, you felt the same way about me being your soulmate as Thor does about Michael? I’m not sure how good that makes me feel,” he joked. 

“Well you were a vessel of the apocalypse. I just knew you were about to die so yeah, wasn’t exactly too happy about it. I’m just glad we managed to work it out. Thor and Michael have even more of an uphill climb though. Hell they’re in a worse position than Dean and Cas were. Makes you wonder if you always have to go through hell to get your soulmate.”

“Maybe you do. Maybe there’s something about having to fight for it that makes it more special,” Hjert suggested thoughtfully. “You think Thor and Michael will?” 

“I don’t know. Soulmates may be sacred and all, but Thor has a lot of hate for Michael right now, and it’s well justified. I’m not sure if they’ll make it or not,” Loki said sadly. 

“Well as long as we keep Michael alive, they have a chance,” Hjert said. “Sometimes I think I hate him just as much as Thor does, but like you said, soulmates are sacred, and if he is the one person that can bring Thor some much needed happiness, then I won’t stand in the way,” he explained. “Even if it does feel like a betrayal to Father to even think it.”

“And that’s gonna be the biggest obstacle of all. If you feel that way about just keeping him alive, imagine how Thor must feel about the situation.”

“Yeah. This is a definite clusterfuck. Fate really is a bitch.”

“Oh she definitely can be,” Loki said with a chuckle. 

“Wait a minute…Thor is like…Michael’s grandson…how would they be soulmates?” He just realized.

“He’s really not. When the Nephilim were turned into pagans their entire genetic structure was altered. They aren’t even the same species anymore so they aren’t any relation. Besides which, for beings like gods and angels, there aren’t really any issues with incest anyway like there are with humans. Heck, Zeus and Hera are brother and sister as well as husband and wife,” he pointed out. 

“But if there’s no actual relation since they became pagans then why would Michael’s grace be turning on him for killing his son?” Hjert asked curiously. 

“Because that’s not about technical relation. Some part of Michael still saw Odin as his son, and those feelings are what caused his grace to rebel,” Loki explained. 

“Oh. So, if he were really as unfeeling as he pretended to be, he wouldn’t have any issues.”

“Exactly. Someone like Raphael would never have to worry about his grace rebelling because he doesn’t have any attachment to anything, but no matter how deep Michael buried his feelings, they were still there and when he went far enough in his betrayal of them…”

“I see. Do you know why he was like that?” Hjert asked gently, knowing that they must have had a pretty deep conversation back there for Loki to come back in such a state, and wondering if he was up to talking about it yet. 

“He lost everything. His other half, his guiding light, his soulmate, and then had to turn away his son. He was broken. And no one saw,” Loki said despairingly.

“So, he tried to take away the feelings of the other angels so they could never be broken like him,” Sam figured out heartbroken that it could get that far. After a few minutes he asked, “So, do you think you could ever forgive him?” That was the big question. The one that all their fates rested on. 

“In time, with a lot of work, maybe,” Loki said honestly. 

“I understand that these things can’t really be rushed…not and remain genuine like this has to be…just try and remember, that time is something we don’t have a whole lot of,” Hjert pointed out. 

“Yeah. I know…wait!” Loki had a light bulb moment. “The interdimensional house. I could take it out of time again and take Michael there!”

Hjert was a little less enthusiastic about the idea, but thought that it did have SOME merit, but there were problems. “We won’t be able to keep his powers muffled there. I know that his grace is too weak to be a threat to you but he could still escape. Plus, if we’re going to go this route, we ALL need to go. For one thing, time may not be passing here, but if you go without me, you would be without me for who knows how long and I know you won’t deal well with that. Especially in the emotional state you’ll be in. Then when we come back, imagine the rift we’ll have if both of us are on good terms with him while Thor and Styrk still hate him and Cas is still terrified of him. Factor in Thor’s little issue and the only way this can work is if we all do it together. And even with his damaged grace…he could still be a threat to US. Oh, and one other thing…pagans can’t stop time or create dimensions where time doesn’t pass, so you’re gonna have to come clean with Michael first.”

“Okay so there are some problems to work out and some discussions to be had, but it’s still the best idea we’ve got,” Loki pointed out. 

“We’re gonna need a bigger house,” Sam groaned good-naturedly. They may have enough bedrooms and enough space for six people normally, but given the tempers that would be flying…it would get very small, very fast.


	9. Chapter 9

Loki and Hjert spend some time working out the issue with Michael’s powers and managed to find a solution. They had power suppression bands they could use, and with a little tweaking would block Michael’s grace completely, which would have the double bonus of not only making him human, but stopping his grace from disintegrating further as long as he was wearing them. It would increase the pace of the decay after removing them, but the plan was not to remove them until Loki was ready to heal Michael’s grace. It would mean that Loki would have to finish healing Michael’s body before the bands were put on though because his injuries that were still healing very slowly, would kill a human. They also decided that they wouldn’t tell Michael about him being Gabriel until they got to the house and Loki would bind him to an oath to keep the secret before telling him. All the details worked out, the only thing left was to sell it to their brothers which they figured it was best to split up for. Loki would talk to Thor and Hjert would talk to Styrk and Cas. 

Loki tracked Thor down in the kitchen and motioned for him to sit down. “So Hjert and I were talking and we realized that one thing we need that we don’t have enough of is time. You know I’m not going to be able to forgive Michael overnight, and every day we waste on it is one day closer to Raphael attacking,” he started. Thor gave him a go on look. “We decided that we need to go to my other dimension where time doesn’t pass.”

“That sounds reasonable. Assuming of course that you’ve taken into account any safety and containment issues,” Thor said seeing the wisdom in the idea, as much as he hated the idea of Loki forgiving the bastard. 

“When I say we, I mean all of us,” he said and waited for the explosion. That was really the best way to handle Thor. Let him explode and vent for a moment and then calmly explain your reasoning and finally offer him incentives to go along with it. 

“You want me to WHAT?! Oh hell no! You want to go make nice with the murderer, go ahead, but leave me the hell out of it! I want nothing to do with him. Period,” Thor yelled. 

“Do you remember when Mother died,” Loki asked softly and a wistful look passed over Thor’s face at the thought. “You remember how that almost tore us apart because of my relationship with Angrboda.”

“What does that have to do with…”

“Do you really think this will be any different? No matter how much we both know that this is necessary. No matter how hard we try, it’s going to come between us if we don’t find some middle ground.”

“You want me to forgive him?!” Thor snarled. 

“No. I’m not asking you to do that. I’m just asking you be there. If Hjert and I go with Michael alone, it will still seem to you like I just forgave him overnight, despite you knowing the truth. I’m asking you to be there in real time so that you can have time to get used to the idea. I’m asking you to be there for ME because this is gonna tear me apart and I will need my brothers. All of them.”

Thor sighed heavily and Loki knew he just about had him hooked. “I still want nothing to do with him,” he said firmly. 

“Well we will be living in the same house. There will be some interaction. It’s unavoidable. But I never said you had to be nice. No beating him senseless on a regular basis just because, of course, but feel free to yell at him, snark at him, prank him, hell I’ll even look the other way if you want to throw a sucker punch from time to time, long as it doesn’t become a regular thing. You won’t be there for him. You’ll be there for me. And Hjert because you know he’ll be by my side all the way and he won’t handle it much better than I will. Please Thor? For me?” he asked throwing his puppy dog eyes at his ‘big’ brother. 

“Fine,” Thor said shortly. “But only if Styrk and Cas agree.”

“Thank you, big brother,” Loki said hopping over the table playfully to give him a hug. 

“I’m only doing it so I can make a human Michael miserable, you know, brat,” he said with a chuckle. 

In the library, a similar conversation was taking place between Hjert, Styrk, and Cas. Styrk was no more immune to his brother’s puppy eyes, than Thor was, and Cas would follow Styrk anywhere. Hjert thought it would be good for them too. He had noticed Cas becoming more and more withdrawn since the loss of his grace and some time outside of time, with no duties to pull them away would give them a chance to pull him out of his shell and get some confidence and self-esteem back into him. He made a mental note to talk to the others about it too. He was sure that Loki had noticed. He had seen the concerned looks he was shooting at the ex-angel recently, but he was fairly sure Styrk and Thor were clueless. 

They all met back up again in their suite, and Loki took Styrk, Cas, and Thor over to the house first so they could settle in before they got there with Michael. When he got back, he and Hjert headed down to the dungeons to get Michael ready for transport after making a stop by the armory to grab the power suppressors and for Loki to make the necessary modifications. When they got downstairs, Loki motioned to one of the guards to come over before turning to Michael. “You will call your blade and hand it…slowly…over to him,” he said gesturing to the guard. 

“Can you take it instead?” Michael asked hopefully.

“Why?” Loki asked him confused at the request. 

“Because I’m fairly certain that YOU won’t run me through just because you can,” Michael said bluntly. 

Loki resisted the urge to roll his eyes…barely…and turned to the guard and said, “You are not to harm him in any way unless he makes any aggressive moves. That’s an order.” The guard nodded bemusedly. “Good enough?” Loki asked. 

Michael nodded and did as he was told and the guard took the blade and held onto it tightly, ready to spring into action in case of attack. They had to take Michael out of the cell for Loki’s powers to be able to heal him and they couldn’t put on the power suppressors until he was healed. Loki was fairly certain that he wouldn’t try anything, but that was no reason to be careless. Once the guard nodded that he was ready Hjert opened the cell door. “Come on out here,” he said emotionlessly. 

Michael didn’t let his fear show as he used the bars to pull himself unsteadily to his feet. Loki’s order to the guard gave him hope that he wasn’t being called to his execution, but there were many fates that could be awaiting him outside the cell. He was leaning heavily on the bars as he staggered to the open door and collapsed on the ground outside of it with nothing else to hold onto. 

Loki knelt next to him and ran his hands over Michael’s body using his slow and relatively painful pagan healing abilities to knit up the damage as much as possible. Enough to keep him alive as a human at least. He would still be in a decent amount of pain and would be moving around pretty slowly for a while, but he would live and he would be able to get around and take care of himself. As soon as Michael was as healed as Loki intended to make him, he held out a hand and he and Hjert each clasped a power suppressor on one of his wrists. They could only be taken off by the person who put it on, so it would take both of them to release him.

They could see the confusion and questions in Michael’s eyes, but the now powerless archangel didn’t voice them. He was too worried about getting out of this alive to risk antagonizing his captors by asking questions. Once he was on his feet again, Hjert took the archangel blade from the guard and they told Michael to climb the stairs, both of them guarding him from behind. Loki didn’t call his blade yet, not wanting to give up any more information than he had to until the time came, but it was only a thought away if he needed it. 

Once they passed the edge of the dungeon wards, Hjert grabbed Michael and they disappeared in a flash of ice, Loki flying along behind them. They didn’t want to risk Michael recognizing the feeling of flight.


	10. Chapter 10

They landed in the living room, the others making themselves scarce for the moment, and Loki told Michael to sit. “First we will go over the rules of the house and then we will tell you where we are and why. Understood?” When Michael nodded, Loki continued. “You will not harm anyone in this house for any reason but in defense of your life. They have agreed not to physically attack you as well, but don’t be surprised if you get punched sometimes, but Hjert and I will make sure that it is a rare occurrence at least. Verbal attacks will probably be frequent, and you are permitted to defend yourself verbally or talk back, but you provoke tempers at your own risk. Again, we will make sure things don’t get out of hand. You will have free run of the house and surrounding areas, except for anyone else’s bedroom, all of which have wards to keep you out. Should you need something when we are in our rooms, you are free to knock on the door, but I would suggest coming to me and Hjert, at least until the others can look at you without the urge to kill you. I’ll show you which room is ours when we take the tour. I’ll make sure the house is stocked with food, but you will either eat what the rest of us are eating or make your own, and there is no guarantee we will eat on any kind of normal schedule. I will accept reasonable requests for what food to stock, however. Any questions on the rules?” 

“That’s all very reasonable,” Michael said, not too happy about the fact that he could get punched but couldn’t retaliate, but if the people he suspected were here, he couldn’t exactly complain, not that it would do him any good to do so anyway. 

“Good. Now for the hard part. Where we are and why,” Loki ran a hand through his hair as he took a steadying breath. Hjert stepped behind him and put his hands on his husband’s shoulders for support. “We are in a separate dimension that I created where time does not pass outside of it.”

“How did you…” Michael blurted out, eyes wide. How could this pagan have that kind of power?

Loki rolled his shoulders as he called his wings, since Michael wouldn’t currently be able to sense his grace, this was the best way to show him, and it was far easier than trying to tell him. “I was formally adopted by Odin after I escaped from Raphael’s little torture chamber. It’s only thanks to him that I survived at all,” he said bitterly as he saw Michael realize the truth of who he was. 

He was definitely not expecting what happened next though as Michael jumped up and grabbed him in a bruising hug. “Gabriel! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I thought you were dead. I’m so sorry,” he babbled while crying on his little brother’s shoulder. 

“Let go,” Loki said firmly. He wasn’t ready for this. For Michael to touch him and hug him and be begging for forgiveness. He wasn’t ready in the least. Thankfully Michael did as he was asked, but this time when he sat on the couch it was much more despondently and he looked like he was about five seconds from a complete emotional breakdown. “We’re here because I can save you. I can fix your grace so that you can help fight Raphael, but to do that, I have to be able to forgive you first. We have to become brothers again, and that will take time and a great deal of effort on both our parts.” Even if he wasn’t already going to give Michael that hope, he would have after the look on his face after he completely shut down the hug. 

“I got the tour,” Hjert said, giving Loki’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. He knew that his husband was pretty much wrung out by now and the others wouldn’t be coming out of their rooms for at least a few more hours. They all wanted to wait until tomorrow before facing Michael and they knew that after the explanations and tour, all he would want is to sleep. Suddenly being human is exhausting as Cas could say from experience. Hjert started downstairs, and showed him how to work the television and where to find the movies and video games, before moving on to the kitchen and showing him where the food was kept, and then to the lounge. “I’m sure if you ask nicely, Loki would teach you to play any of the games here…but you might want to give it a few days. He’s not dealing very well right now.”

“Is this Gabriel’s…”

“Loki. He goes by Loki now. He doesn’t see himself as Gabriel anymore, and won’t take kindly to you calling him that. At least not for a while,” Hjert told him firmly. 

“Of course,” Michael said pushing the pain of that statement away for the moment. “Is this Loki’s house?” 

“Yes. It was originally. When we found each other six years ago, I moved in here with him before we had to take over Asgard,” Hjert said bluntly, knowing exactly who was to blame for them having to leave here, but not willing to walk on eggshells over the matter. Cas and Styrk lived here with us after Cas left heaven.”

“Styrk is your other brother? The one I haven’t met yet?” 

“Yes. I’m sure you’ll see him soon, but you’ll probably wish you didn’t. He’s a fire elemental and even more of a hothead than Thor.”

Michael just nodded. This was not going to be a pleasant experience, but if it allowed them to save the younglings, he would accept it. And now he had a new goal as well. To get Gabriel back in his life. 

Hjert could see that Michael was nearly dead on his feet, so he decided to get the outside and the pool house tomorrow and led him upstairs. He pointed out Thor’s room, Styrk and Cas’ room, and his and Loki’s room, giving Michael the room on the end with plenty of buffer between him and the others. He showed him the library across the hall and then left him to get to bed, waiting until the door closed behind him before walking back down the hall knocking on the other doors to let them know it was safe to come out. 

Once they had, they were reminded that Thor had never been here before, so they took the tour again, this time showing everything, even the crystal garden that the lightning god immediately fell in love with, and didn’t come back to the house with them, choosing instead to stay there and meditate. The other four quickly fell into a familiar routine and popped a movie in the dvd player, and Loki snapped up two large bowls of popcorn, that ended up being thrown at each other as much as eaten. 

Thor showed back up a couple movies later, and decided that he just HAD to watch The Avengers, causing Loki to laugh at him and quite a bit of teasing went back and forth before the movie started. Cas took that opportunity to excuse himself to go to bed himself since it was getting rather late. The teasing didn’t stop as they watched all four Avengers and the first Thor movie before Cas came back down. There was now a full blanket of popcorn on the floor and quite a bit sticking in people’s hair. 

By the end of the first Thor movie, they were in a full on war, diving over furniture, throwing powers as well as popcorn around. Hjert had just dropped a globe of water on Styrk’s head and was throwing a stream at Thor, while Loki conjured a flock of small golden birds to attack, when Thor threw out a strong gust of wind, blowing Hjert’s water back on him and Loki, taking out the birds along the way too and they were all doubled over in laughter, when it abruptly stopped from the team facing the stairs. Loki and Hjert turned to see what they were looking at and saw Michael standing halfway down the stairs watching them. 

Hjert caught the flames out of the corner of his eyes as Styrk’s hands lit up in temper. “Styrk,” he said warningly. 

Styrk nodded tersely and spun on his heel. “Come on, Cas. Let’s go shoot some pool,” he said as they left the room. 

“I’ll come with you,” Thor said following them just as quickly. 

Loki sighed and snapped his fingers cleaning up the massive mess they had made. Michael, wisely, didn’t say a word as he headed to the kitchen for breakfast and Loki and Hjert turned the television to a stupid sitcom, intending to finish the tour of the outside once Michael was finished eating, planning to finish up in the crystal garden while they could sit there and talk, hoping that the tranquility of the place would help.


	11. Chapter 11

Loki and Hjert led Michael through the poolhouse, and into the gardens where they walked around the gardens for a few minutes before heading towards the forest. Michael’s reaction was no different than anyone else’s the first time he laid eyes on the crystal garden and the three of them walked towards the center and Loki was the first to sit in the grass, Hjert following his lead, and after a moment of looking around, Michael slowly lowered himself to the ground as well. 

Loki took a few deep breaths with his eyes closed, letting the clarity and tranquility flow over him before he started to speak. “After I escaped from heaven, I was sure you were right. For a long time…longer than I want to admit…I didn’t allow myself to feel much either. Nothing beyond the surface at least. Nothing truly meaningful or deep. Even for Dad and Thor. I had a great deal of affection for them, of course. I cared, but I blocked all deeper feelings away. I was wrong though. You’re wrong. Yes, emotions can tear you apart, but they can also put you back together. They can push people apart or they can bring them together. Like anything else, it’s what you make of it.”

He could see Michael about to protest. Probably something along the lines of not being able to make much out of the horrible losses he experienced. “For example, if any of us had known what you were going through, if you had let us in, we could have been there for you. We could have supported you. We could have helped.”

Hjert jumped in there with his own example and follow-up. “Like when you killed Father, it would have been easy for the five of us to shut ourselves off in our grief. We could have avoided each other, and blamed each other, and decided that it wasn’t worth it to feel anymore, but we didn’t. We banded together. We helped and supported each other and became closer as a result. We lost Father, and it hurt. It will always hurt, but together we are able to move on. Move past the pain and find new purpose.”

“Even in the worst of times, you can find something to carry you through, if you just open yourself up to the possibility. You can always find happiness again,” Loki summed up. He could see that Michael was deep in thought about everything they’d said so he decided to leave him to consider it. “One last thing to think about. Even if you chose to give up your own emotions, you never had the right to take everyone else’s away from them too.”

Hjert and Loki walked back towards the house leaving a pensive Michael sitting in the center of the crystal garden as they went to find their brothers. Loki walked into the lounge and made straight for the booze, pouring himself a large glass of meade and then downing it in one shot before refilling it and drinking a little slower. 

Hjert watched him worriedly as he went to greet their brothers. “Is he okay?” Thor asked, just as concerned. 

“This is all so hard for him. Not only having to come to terms with what happened to Father, but dredging up all this ancient history that he’s kept buried for so long. He’s spent millenia running from everything, and now it’s all being shoved in his face and he has no choice but to deal with it if he wants to save everyone’s life, so the pressure is just making everything worse.” 

“He never did tell me what all happened back then. Why he ran. I asked Dad once, but he said it wasn’t his place to say. I couldn’t bring myself to ask Loki when the slightest hint of the subject would send him into…well…this,” he said gesturing at the counter and the god who was rapidly getting drunk. 

“It’s not my place to say either, but I think it would help him to have someone else to talk to about all this. You should ask him. He’ll probably tell you,” Hjert said sadly. 

Thor nodded and walked over to the bar and sat down next to Loki. “Pour me one too, little brother, and talk,” he said holding out a glass. Loki did start talking, but not about what Thor had intended, but despite not wanting to hear it, he didn’t have the heart to make his brother stop when he obviously so desperately needed to unload. 

“The worst part of all this is that I get, you know. I hate it. I still think he’s a complete asshole. But I get it. He lost everything and then found a life again and then lost everything again and he was drowning and no one noticed and he just shut himself off. It terrifies me that it could have been me. If Dad hadn’t found me. If it hadn’t been for him and you keeping me at least a little bit connected, I could have easily become what he did. I don’t think you realized just how close I was to the edge.”

“I think Dad did, and Mom,” Thor told him. “I never told you this, but I used to get jealous of how much they doted on you after you came to us, and even after Mom died, Dad was always trying to pull you in and include you as much as you would let him and it bugged the crap out of me. Not because I didn’t want you around, but because he fought so hard for you it seemed like you mattered more to him than I did. After all, he CHOSE you as his son. He just got stuck with me.”

“He never fought for you because he never needed to,” Loki told him. He’d never realized how things must have seemed to Thor. They should have had this talk a long time ago. “You were always there, and even after you moved out, you were always the first one to come running when he called. He would have fought just as hard for you if there had ever been a need. You know that.”

“I know. I eventually figured that out. It took a little time to get used to not being an only child to get a chance to figure it out though. But my point is, I think he always knew how close you were to the edge, and he was determined to keep you from falling. I just wish that Michael’d had someone like that. Maybe things would be different.”

Loki couldn’t help but snort derisively. “He had Raphael. Raphael would be more likely to shove him over the edge and laugh as he drowned. I would have helped if I had known. If I’d had a chance. If he hadn’t handed me over for torture at Raphael’s hands.”

“He did WHAT?!” Thor exclaimed, slamming his almost empty glass on the counter and shattering it. 

Loki snapped shaky fingers and created a new glass and refilled it, as he gave the outline of everything that had happened in heaven, including his new insight into Michael’s side of things. As much as Thor hated to admit it, he too ‘got it’. Losing his father was bad enough, but if he had lost his father and Loki, and none of his other brothers were there for him, only to find comfort elsewhere and then lose a wife and son in such horrible circumstances, he would probably be broken too. He wanted to think that he wouldn’t have gone as far as Michael. That he wouldn’t have lashed out so completely, but he honestly couldn’t say what he would have done. That’s when he remembered what Loki had said at first. That he could have easily become exactly like him. That he had spent so long flirting with that edge, and he couldn’t help but reach out and pull his little brother close and hold onto him like he was about to disappear. He would never let that happen. This situation was tearing him apart, but Thor swore to himself, then and there, that he would be there to put him back together again, as many times as necessary, for as long as it took. He wouldn’t let his brother fall. No matter what. And if that meant playing nice with the murderer, so be it.


	12. Chapter 12

Hjert took the opportunity while Thor was talking to Loki, to spend some time with Styrk and Cas. Maybe he could make some progress on pulling Cas out of his shell. He pulled them into a three way game of pool which was how they spent the next few hours until a staggering Loki and Thor came over and suggested a meal. It was only mid-afternoon, but Cas, the only one of them that actually needed to eat, had skipped lunch when they lost track of time so it was quickly agreed to. Loki snapped his fingers and the kitchen table was straining under the weight of the food and they all dug in. The meal was filled with raucous laughter, most of it either by Loki and Thor or at their expense as they seemed to have a bit of trouble finding their mouths and actually fell off their chairs a few times too. 

After they ate, Loki and Thor were quick to head back to the bottle, the food almost starting to sober them up a bit and neither of them much wanted to be sober at the moment, not that Hjert could blame them. Between their responsibilities that didn’t allow much time for such things and all the emotional upheaval of the last few days, he wouldn’t mind getting a little smashed too, but someone had to keep a level head. He was surprised that Styrk wasn’t joining them, but figured he was a little too worried about Cas at the moment. Maybe that was exactly what Cas needed though. A chance to let loose, and maybe some drink would get him to open up a little. Tomorrow would be their turn. 

When Styrk and Cas headed back to the lounge to both keep an eye on their brothers and enjoy the amusement factor, Hjert hesitated before deciding not to follow them, and made a large plate, heading outside to the crystal garden. He saw Michael still sitting crosslegged on the center island looking just as lost as he had when they left him that morning. “I know that you’re not used to being human and all, but you really should come back to the house at least once a day to eat something,” Hjert told him, handing him the plate. “Might want to get up and walk around a bit every so often too so you don’t get stiff.” He couldn’t tell if Michael had moved at all since then, but somehow he doubted it. 

“Thank you…Hjert right?” He was pretty sure this one’s name was Hjert, but it wasn’t like anyone was going around making introductions, but the god nodded so it seemed he was right. “I’ll try to remember that,” he promised. He knew from the look on his face and the demeanor that this would be a one time thing. No one was going to be waiting on him, nor should he expect them too. When Hjert turned to leave he couldn’t help but say, “I don’t even know where to begin.” He said it softly enough that Hjert could pretend not to have heard him and keep walking if he wanted to, but he couldn’t deny that he was hoping for a little help and something told him that this god would be his best chance to get some. He had to have been named heart for a reason. 

Hjert turned and came back, sitting down with a relatively mild sigh. “As much as this place helps, it’s not a miracle. I can tell you from experience that if your head is all jumbled up, you’re not gonna get anywhere. I’d suggest starting from the beginning. Think about what it was like before…really remember…and then compare that to what it became. As far as your own feelings go, you do far more harm than good by hiding from them. Loki is another good example of that. You have to let yourself feel them and find a way to move past them,” Hjert told him, realizing as he said it that there would be a major problem with that. Dealing with that kind of grief, especially amplified by the fact that he’d spent so long burying them, without a support system would be extremely difficult and just as likely to turn him back into everything they hated. He didn’t think any of them were of the right frame of mind to function as a support system right now though. Not for him. Not yet. Hopefully he would be able to hold it together until then, if not, Hjert would do what he must. He would live up to his name and shoulder the burden until Loki was ready to help. It was the least he could do for the man who gave him everything. When Michael nodded, Hjert got up and left him alone to think some more, and finish eating. 

When he got back to the house, he packed up the rest of the leftovers and put them in the fridge for Cas or Michael to eat later when they got hungry. Loki never had much of a concept of moderation, but when he was drunk, it was even less so, as the leftovers nearly filled the fridge. 

 

It was three days before anyone saw Michael for more than just popping in and grabbing some food. He even took it back out to the crystal garden to eat. Loki left him alone during that time, giving him a chance to come to terms with everything. When he finally came in, just after sunset and headed upstairs without a word, presumably to go to bed, Hjert and Loki noticed his red-rimmed eyes and the tear tracks on his face. He was avoiding looking at anyone just as determinedly as the other three were avoiding looking at him. 

The next morning, Michael came downstairs during a time where both couples were taking some alone time and Thor was alone, sitting on the couch and playing a video game. He immediately tensed up and paused the game, watching Michael carefully, unconcealed hatred in his eyes as he tried to decide how to handle this. When he reached a decision, Michael didn’t have time to react before he was pressed against the wall with an angry god in his face. “I want you to listen to me carefully. I hate you. I hate this whole situation. Most importantly, I hate what it’s doing to my brother to have to face you after everything you’ve done to him. If I could kill you and save him from all this I would do it without hesitation, but fortunately for you, Raphael is more of a threat. We need you, which means that Loki has no choice but to deal with this. With you. And I won’t make it any more difficult for him than it already is, so I will be civil, but I will tell you right now…you dare to hurt him again, I WILL kill you, even if it means the rest of the world burns. Understood?” 

Michael nodded and swallowed audibly before he did the stupidest thing he could ever have done in this situation. It was just so tempting, being so close to his soulmate without the buffer of hatred that Thor had, so he tilted his head forward and pressed his lips to Thor’s. The few seconds that Thor kissed him back spun his whole world on its axis. It was everything he could ever have dreamed. And it was worth everything that came after. 

When Thor’s brain caught up to him and realized that Michael was kissing him, and he was actually kissing the bastard back, he wrenched his lips away, unwilling to admit how difficult it was to do so, before taking half a step back and burying his fist in Michael’s gut, causing the newly human archangel to double over in pain and slump to the floor. It was just his bad luck that Thor had hit the still healing blade wound there, but he couldn’t help the small smile that graced his face as Thor stormed from the room. It was worth it.

It was about twenty minutes later that Loki and Hjert came downstairs to find Michael still slumped against the wall, holding his stomach, and with a dazed look on his face. “What happened?” Loki asked curiously, tilting his head to the side. That snapped Michael out of it and he started to pull himself to his feet, wincing at the pain. “You’re bleeding,” Loki pointed out and motioned for him to sit on the couch. 

“It’s okay. It’s my fault,” Michael told him waving him off. 

“I have no intention of healing you. Especially if you think you deserved it, you probably did. But I still want to make sure you’re not gonna bleed to death so just sit down and let me see,” Loki said testily and Michael didn’t dare refuse. There was a lot of blood on his shirt, but by that point, the blood loss had slowed to a trickle, so Loki just snapped up a bandage for it. 

“Thor really loves you, you know. He’s a better brother than I ever was…even before…”

“I know,” Loki said shortly signaling the end of that conversation. “So, what’d you do to piss him off anyway?” He didn’t really think he wanted to know, but his curiosity had always been his greatest downfall. 

“I kissed him,” Michael said matter-of-factly. 

Hjert coughed a little as his eyes bugged out of his head and Loki was in about the same shape as his hands stilled while fastening the bandage before he finally just burst into laughter. “I don’t know if you’re incredibly stupid, or incredibly brave,” he said with a last chuckle as he finished the bandage. “Go change.” Once he had made his way upstairs, Loki turned to Hjert. “I should go find Thor.”

He found his brother in the first place he looked. The lounge getting shit-faced. “So you got your first kiss from your soulmate huh?” he teased lightly trying to get a feel for Thor’s mood. 

“First and last. I sure as hell won’t be letting my guard down again,” he said heatedly. 

“Don’t be so quick to…”

“Drop it,” Thor ordered with a glare.

Loki held up his hands in surrender. “Okay. I just want you to be happy is all,” he explained. 

“Well that ship sailed the moment my soulmate murdered my father,” Thor grumbled. 

Loki reached behind him for the door to make his escape before opening his mouth to speak again. “Dad would have wanted you to be happy too,” he said quickly ducking out the door and closing it behind him just in time to hear the glass shatter against it and he shrugged sheepishly at Hjert’s raised eyebrow. Sometimes things just needed to be said.


	13. Chapter 13

The next few months settled into a routine that was making Hjert more than a little nervous. Loki was either trying to give Michael some time to think or avoiding the whole situation, or both. He didn’t think Loki would turn away if Michael if were there, but he wasn’t making any effort to seek him out. The others obviously had no intention of seeking Michael out. None of that would have been much of a problem if Michael hadn’t been avoiding them all like the plague. Even Hjert hadn’t been able to get close when he tried. He got close enough though. Close enough to see the bags under Michael’s eyes that said he wasn’t sleeping well. Close enough to see the way his clothes hung far too loosely on his frame indicating that he was barely eating either. Close enough to see the dead look in his eyes that concerned him most of all. Something had to give. 

Hjert pulled Loki aside one day, and cornered him in the rose garden. “We need to talk,” he said firmly, intending to put a stop to this one way or another. Loki raised an eyebrow in question. “It’s about Michael. We’re losing him.”

“Look, I’ve been giving him some space to think things over, but there’s not much more I can do if he’s never around,” Loki tried to justify it. 

“You can find him and talk to him. You NEED to find him and talk to him. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s barely eating, barely sleeping, and his eyes…they look dead. It’s really worrying me.”

“He’s probably just still trying to get used to the idea of eating and sleeping and it’s taking a bit of adjustment and his eyes? Please. There’s nothing different about that,” Loki said rolling his eyes.

“No, I don’t mean cold and unfeeling like before. I mean like he doesn’t care anymore. Like he’s going to just roll over and die from a broken heart any day now. You realized we basically told him to start feeling things again and deal with his grief, while pointing out how he’s essentially destroyed everything good around him and then left him with no support or understanding from anyone?”

“So, what? You want me to go hold his hand? Tell him everything is okay? It’s not.”

“No. That’s not what I’m saying, but you need to talk to him. You need to do something. You’re the only one who’ll be able to reach him right now. That’s the whole reason we’re here remember,” Hjert pointed out gently. 

Loki sighed heavily. Hjert was right. He knew Hjert was right. It was so much easier to just pretend it didn’t exist. There was no need to rush anything. They could take forever if they wanted to. That was the danger of stopping time though. It made it easy to justify putting everything off. “Okay. I’ll go talk to him,” he said wearily. 

“Thank you, Lo,” Hjert said relieved. 

 

Loki headed back into the house and up the stairs. It was time to grab the bull by the horns. He took a deep breath before he knocked on Michael’s door, and heard a weak, “Come in,” in response. He stopped short at the sight that met him. If anything, Hjert had been underexaggerating. Michael looked like a walking corpse. He hadn’t even looked at Loki since he came in. He was just sitting on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest and staring blankly at the wall. Loki felt a pang of guilt and regret. How had he missed this? How had he let things get so bad? He finally started to thaw a bit towards his brother and couldn’t help the urge to fix him. He braced himself and sauntered over, plopping himself on the other end of the bed. “Geez Michael. You look like hell,” he quipped. 

“Not in the mood, Ga-Loki,” Michael said in a monotone. 

“Tough. Because I’m not going anywhere. None of this does any good if you kill yourself in the process,” he said bluntly. 

“Why do you think I haven’t?” Michael told him bluntly. 

Loki managed to keep his reactions steady at that, if only barely. He had suspected as soon as he opened the door that it had gotten that far, but hearing it was a different story. “But you want to?” Loki asked to confirm.

“I wish I could. There is nothing I could possibly do to make anything I’ve done right. I’ve destroyed everyone I’ve ever cared about, and lost everything that makes anything worthwhile. I can never even begin to make up for any of it. I’m still here because you need me. Because the young ones need me to save their lives, but after that…”

“Forget about after that for now. We’ll figure that part out later, but if you don’t snap out of this we won’t get that far. Come with me,” Loki said getting up and heading for the door, stopping to wait for Michael to decide if it was worth it to protest, but he finally did get up and follow. They went downstairs, where Hjert, Styrk, Thor, and Cas were watching television and he pointed to the dining table. “Sit,” he ordered as he snapped his fingers and a meal hit the table. “Eat.” Loki sat next to him and started filling up his plate while the others just stared in shock. 

“I’m not hungry,” Michael protested weakly. 

“I don’t care. You need to eat.” When Michael still seemed to hesitate, Loki took a deep breath and reached out a hand to Michael’s shoulder, barely containing his wince at the bones he could feel jutting out. This was the first time he had touched him since they arrived. “Michael, please,” he said gently, and Michael sighed and started to pick at his food slowly. 

No matter how much Thor hated him right now, seeing his soulmate in such a state was heart-wrenching and every instinct he had was screaming at him to fix it. When Hjert got up and went to the table to sit down and eat with them, Thor debated for a moment before he followed. It was just sitting down to a meal. It didn’t mean he was thinking of forgiving him. He wouldn’t even need to talk to him. He would just sit there and eat…and make sure Michael ate. 

Even Styrk’s heart thawed a bit at the sight Michael made, not enough to go share a meal with him though of course. He walked over long enough to make himself and Cas a plate and they went back to eat in front of the television. He had noticed that Cas was still uncomfortable being anywhere close to Michael after the torture he’d experienced not so long ago. 

The meal was filled with stilted silence as Michael glanced around every so often as if to make sure that no one was going to hit him. He looked like a bird ready to bolt. Every time he started getting the urge though, Hjert reached over and put a comforting hand on his arm, making him stay. He didn’t notice the furtive glances Thor kept sending his way, but he did notice Loki watching him like a hawk and the expression on his face said that he wasn’t getting up from the table until he cleaned his plate. 

It felt like forever before Michael finished his plate, but Loki just snapped his fingers and cleaned up since everyone else was already done. “Now, you’re going to go upstairs and take a shower…or a bath, whichever you prefer, and then I’m going to put you to sleep for at least twelve hours and tomorrow we will talk. Okay?” Loki said, not quite warmly, but more so than he had been before. 

Michael sighed, seeing the futility of argument, and got up to do as he was told without a word. As he disappeared up the stairs, Thor grabbed Loki’s arm and pulled him to the side. “Will he be okay?” he asked, ignoring the fact that he was concerned and almost able to convince himself that it was only because they still needed him. 

“I hope so,” Loki said sadly. 

“How did it get so bad?” Thor asked.

“Because, once again, no one noticed,” he said hating himself even more than he hated Michael right now. “He realized how wrong he’s been about everything for millenia and how badly he’s hurt everyone he’s ever cared about and that’s broken him even more than he already was. And I have no idea how to fix it.” 

Thor took a deep breath and steeled himself for what he knew he had to do. “Then we find a way. Together. The way it should have been all along,” he said firmly. He never should have put everything on Loki’s shoulders like that. Even with Hjert helping to carry the load, it was still too much, and it wasn’t fair. They had made a pact that they would bear everything together and this situation with Michael made him turn his back on that. No more. They would present a united front and he would make sure that Styrk and Cas were with them on this too. They couldn’t go on with pulling Loki in two different directions like this. It was no longer about his loyalty to them or his need to deal with Michael. It was about their loyalty to Loki now. They would stand by his side the way they were supposed to and anyone who disagreed would have to deal with him.


	14. Chapter 14

Over the next few months they settled into a relative peace. Styrk was coldly civil, and Cas was starting to come out of his shell more with the others, but retreated right back into it when Michael was around. Loki was adamant about making sure Michael ate and slept enough, and Thor seemed to be unable to make up his mind. One minute he was all concerned and hovering and the next he was sniping and snarling. It was giving them all whiplash, but they understood his unique position, and at least he was trying. Hjert was just trying to keep everyone together and keep the peace when needed. 

There were a lot of long talks about the past and past mistakes with Loki, and equally long talks with Hjert trying to understand and come to terms with his feelings. Other than that, he was roped into being social with them as well. Not all the time of course. They still needed time to themselves without the added stress of having him around, but they were building up to it. He would spend a few hours a day with them, and learned how to play pool, chess, a variety of board games and video games, and was slowly starting to loosen up. 

Thor had agreed to let him go after Raphael was out of the picture, with a lot of conditions. Michael would find heaven bound far more tightly with treaties than the pagans were. He was willing to accept that as a condition of his release though, and most of what they asked for involved more security for them so he would have agreed anyway. It did allow them to begin to discuss what methods could be taken to fix everything that had gone wrong in heaven. Loki again had to point out that as soon as he accepted the Asgard throne, he could no longer lay any claim on heaven. There would certainly be a revolt among the other pagans if Asgard held the full might of heaven as well, so Loki couldn’t help with anything but ideas. Should Thor decide to accept Michael as his soulmate it would be bad enough, but no one would ever argue against a soulmate connection. 

It was during an argument between Michael and Thor that a dam finally managed to break. They weren’t even arguing about anything major, of course if they had been it would probably never have happened. It was a stupid argument over a pool game and they were both raising their voices and gesticulating wildly while the other four just watched in amusement and ready to step in if things escalated. Well, they escalated all right, but no one felt the need to step in as Thor grabbed Michael and slammed him into the wall and crashed his lips into the archangel’s immediately deepening the kiss in an act of domination while four jaws dropped nearly to the floor and four sets of eyes were as wide as they could get. 

As fast as it started, it ended as Thor pushed back roughly, shoving Michael into the wall one more time before turning on his heel and storming out, leaving Michael with a dazed smile on his face and blinking in shock. It was a long moment before anyone managed to speak and Loki just drawled, “Well…that was interesting.” Hjert snorted in an attempt to hold back his chuckle at the complete understatement, and Styrk just shook his head and elbowed Cas, motioning back to their own game that they had abandoned to watch the show. 

Once the full weight of what happened settled on them, Loki sighed and said, “I better go talk to Thor.”

“I got Michael,” Hjert said with a nod. 

Loki found Thor sitting in the middle of the crystal garden with a look that he could only describe as part lost, part angry, part sad, and part happy. It would have made a comical sight if the situation weren’t so serious. Loki went over and sat cross-legged next to his brother and waited for him to say something. He ended up waiting nearly half an hour before Thor spoke. “Allowing this thing with Michael to happen would be a complete betrayal to Father. How can I do that to him? To the rest of you?” 

“Maybe it would be a betrayal. I don’t know. I wish I had all the answers here, but one thing I do know is that throwing away your one chance at real happiness? That would also be a betrayal to Father. He willingly sacrificed himself so that we could go on and be happy. Granted the situation at the time mainly applied to Styrk and Cas, but do you really think he would have wanted any less for you? For any of us? And as for the rest of us, we may not like it, it may take some getting used to, but we…all of us…want you to be happy more than we need revenge or grudges.”

“I just…I don’t know what to do, Loki. Tell me what I should do?” he asked, despondently. 

“I can’t tell you that, big brother. But think about this. When all of the choices are equally bad, you might as well take the one that gives you a chance at happiness,” Loki told him with a sad smile. When Thor just nodded and looked off into space, lost in thought again, Loki clapped him on the shoulder and stood up, leaning over to press a kiss to his temple. “Figure out what’s right for you, and we will all support you a hundred percent,” he said in parting as he headed back to the house. 

The next few days could only be described as awkward, as Michael and Thor skirted around each other, Michael trying to give Thor space, and Thor trying to figure out his feelings and what he wanted. Finally, something gave, and Thor sighed and grabbed Michael’s arm, dragging him out to the crystal garden so they could talk privately without anyone else stumbling across them. The only other place that they could go for privacy was one of the bedrooms and Thor wasn’t about to go there. 

Once they got to the island, Thor sat and motioned for Michael to do the same. “I don’t know if we can do this. If this will work. I don’t know if I can look at you every day without thinking about the last moments of my father’s life. I don’t know if I can ever truly let it go enough to be happy with us. But I do know that I can’t be happy without you. Not as happy as I could be. Is it worth it to try? I don’t know. But if you can live with never knowing if this will work, I’d be willing to try anyway.”

Michael was silent for a while thinking over what Thor had said, and trying to form a response. When he was finally ready to speak, he swallowed a few times to keep the bile down and get up the nerve to speak. “I never thought I would be graced with a soulmate. I thought I was too broken…too cold to ever love again, and therefore a soulmate would be lost on me anyway. I…If you had told me a year ago that I would find a soulmate and that it would be a pagan and that I would even be considering it, I would have told you that you were insane, but this is the situation we’re presented with. I don’t know either whether we will be able to make it. It may be that there is too much history. Too much hurt and anger for us to work past, but I just can’t get over the idea that I am actually lucky enough to have a soulmate in the first place and I have too much that I will never forgive myself for already to spend the rest of forever wondering what could have happened. Yes. I would like to try.” Michael said nervously. 

That settled, Thor reached out a hand and placed it on Michael’s cheek before leaning over and kissing him gently. Michael wouldn’t have been able to breathe if he tried. This was so different than their first kiss, when it had just been acting on instinct. It was so different than their second kiss which was done in frustration and anger. This was slow and sweet and full of hope and promise. This was everything. Michael didn’t know if he could survive losing this now that he had a chance, but he still couldn’t not try. He would just have to speak with Loki and make sure that there was a plan to keep him from becoming so cold and unfeeling again, even if it meant his death. It would still be worth it for this chance.


	15. Chapter 15

Once Thor and Michael disappeared outside, Styrk turned to Loki. “Do you really think they’re going to try and make a go of it? After everything he’s done?” 

“I don’t know,” Loki said thoughtfully. “I hope so. For Thor’s sake.” When Styrk looked like he was getting ready to protest, Loki gave him a hard look. “Remember how much you and Cas had to go through before you made it,” he said pointedly. 

“Because of Michael,” Styrk pointed out in response. 

“Okay, look. I’m the last one that will stand here defending him, and I know that there is a lot of shit we can lay at his feet, but this isn’t one of them. He didn’t know that Cas was your soulmate. Maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe it wouldn’t, but we don’t know,” Loki told him. 

“How do you know he didn’t know? Did you ask him? Did you ask him if it would have made a difference?” Styrk snapped. 

“Of course, I didn’t ask him. He has no idea who you and Hjert were. Don’t you think that would kind of give away the secret?” Loki asked as if he were a complete idiot. “I’m asking you, as your brother, please don’t make this any tougher than it has to be for Thor. We need to support him on this. Father gave his life to give you your soulmate back. Do you really think he would have done any less for Thor? Is it really your place to say?” 

Styrk sighed heavily. He knew that Loki was right. “Okay, I see your point. But think about this for a minute. If things work out between them, Michael will be family. Are we really going to keep such a big secret from family? How could we justify that?”

“You would consider trusting him with that?” Cas asked, shocked.

“Styrk is right,” Hjert said evenly. “If he can’t be trusted it would be better to know now, before Thor gets in too deep.”

“If we’re gonna do this, we need to go all in,” Styrk said firmly. 

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that there was no way around this. They were right. “Fine. As long as he’s essentially human, I’ll be able to wipe the information from his mind if need be, and then Thor will have a decision to make. I don’t envy asking him to make it though, so let’s hope it won’t be needed.” 

When Michael and Thor returned about an hour after they left, all it took to pass on the information was a raise of Loki’s eyebrow and a slight incline of Thor’s head. “Okay, so now that’s settled we need to talk,” Loki said taking the bull by the horns and turning off the television, motioning for the two of them to sit down. He could almost see the plea in Thor’s eyes asking him not to take this away from him now, and he dearly hoped that he wouldn’t have to. It would all be on Michael’s shoulders though. “Okay, Michael. If you are to become a part of this family someday, there is another very big secret you need to be aware of, and we need to be sure you can be trusted with it, before things go any further.”

Michael nodded firmly. He got the feeling he was about to be tested and he steeled himself for whatever was to come. He would not fail this test. He refused. Loki looked to Styrk and Hjert one last time to make sure they were still up for this and they both gave him tense nods. They were understandably nervous, but it still needed to be done. Only Cas was showing his nervousness openly. Seeing their agreement and Thor’s questioning look, he continued. “I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that Styrk and Hjert were adopted as I was.” Michael nodded wondering where this was going. “Before they were adopted, they were human and their human names were Sam and Dean Winchester.”

Michael sucked in a sharp breath and looked appraisingly at the two men he now knew used to be the destined vessels of the apocalypse before his gaze moved over to Castiel, and the way he was clinging to Styrk. “I see now how they were able to avoid their fate, being bonded to the two of you,” he said evenly. “I wish I could say that Castiel should have told me as soon as he realized that he was soulmated to one of the vessels, but I can’t honestly say if I would have understood or not or what action I may have taken at the time. Now though, I do understand the irresistible pull of a soulmate.” He looked Castiel straight in the eye as he said his next bit. “You did whatever was necessary to protect your soulmate against any enemy. I will not fault you for that. Not when I would do the same,” he said with a glance over to Thor, who visibly relaxed. “I understand now why you abandoned heaven, and I do understand now why you took others with you as well since I am assuming that Ga-Loki showed you what heaven used to be like. You did the right thing Castiel, against impossible odds, and I am proud of you.” 

“Does that mean you’ll give him his grace back once all this is settled?” Styrk asked. 

“If it were within my power to do so, I would without hesitation. Unfortunately, Raphael destroyed it almost the moment it was removed, and only our father can grant new grace,” he said regretfully. “I promise you though, Castiel. Should our father ever return, I will personally plead your case and take full responsibility for your loss.”

Cas visibly sagged in defeat. He could see that Michael was telling the truth and that his grace was gone forever. Only the fact that Styrk, too, could see that Michael was telling the truth, and that he regretted the fact, kept him from blowing up at him. That and the comforting arm that Thor had placed around him. “But you have no intention of trying to restart the apocalypse?” Hjert had to confirm. 

“Even if I were willing to destroy what is left of my soulmate’s family, it is no longer possible. You cannot be used as vessels as you are. Your father is gone and was the last of the Winchester line, and the only members of the Campbell line are distant cousins. The main line died with your mother. It would take centuries to cultivate new bloodlines in order to continue,” he said pragmatically. 

“Let the bloodlines take care of themselves, Michael. That’s what father always intended. It is not for you to bring it about. It will happen when it is time. Are you really so anxious to kill your brother?” Loki asked. That was the biggest thing he never understood and now that they could talk freely about the aborted apocalypse, he couldn’t help but ask. 

“He is locked up there, all alone, cut off from everyone and everything. That is no fate for anyone. Once the apocalypse happens, he will either be free in death by my hand, or free in life should I fall, and that would bring me comfort. I understand your point of view though, and will do as you ask, but if I am not to interfere with the path of fate, I must ask the same of you when it is truly time,” Michael told him. 

“Agreed,” Loki said. That was an easy promise to make. When it was truly time, it would be their father’s will and none of them could stop it anyway. He shook his head at Styrk and Hjert as they started to protest just letting the end of the world happen. He would explain that to them later. “And I do wish there were more we could do for Lucifer, but we did all we could in the beginning. It was his choice to lock himself away and he did that to protect us all. Not just from him, but from ourselves too. He knew what it would do to you to have to kill him and he knew that you were the only one strong enough to do so. Win or lose, it will destroy you, and he never wanted you to sacrifice yourself for him.”

Thor pulled him close as the tears welled up in Michael’s eyes. “Perhaps, if we all pool our resources, we may yet find a way to save him. Maybe there is no heavenly way, but between heaven, the pagans, and the humans, we may be able to find something,” Thor told him, knowing the bond between brothers, and could only imagine the bond between twins, created from the same grace, would be much greater. It would cost them nothing to try. 

“But we do nothing unless we’re really completely sure,” Styrk said firmly, accepting no argument on that fact. The last thing they needed was Lucifer roaming the earth, even without a suitable vessel. 

“We won’t,” Hjert said daring anyone to disagree, but no one did. 

“Well, now that everything is settled, we’ll give you two some alone time,” Loki said getting up and heading out to the lounge with the others, leaving the rest of the house for the newest couple to do whatever they wished. 

Michael sighed with relief as he realized that he passed the test, and that his budding relationship was accepted without hostility. He only hoped that one day he might be accepted with warmth, but he knew that it was a long way away, if it ever came to be.


	16. Chapter 16

Hjert waited until he and Loki were alone before he asked about what Michael had said about the bloodlines ending. He hadn’t wanted to bring it up in front of the others since Dean still didn’t know about it. “Michael said that the Winchester line was dead. Does that mean something happened to Ben?” he asked worriedly. 

“No. I still have the wards up in their area and I have always been able to sense him. He’s fine. Michael just doesn’t know about him. If Styrk had been in his life, it may have been different, but heaven had more important things to do than watching all of your brother’s conquests for potential children,” Loki assured him. 

“Okay. Yeah. That makes sense. What does it mean that he’s still out there though? Does that mean the apocalypse can still happen? I mean if it’s our bloodline and all…”

“No. It was the union of the Campbell and Winchester lines that had the possibility. Yes, Ben has that blood in him, but it’s been diluted by his mother’s blood. It’s not pure enough for them to use anymore. It would still take generations to purify it again, and that’s even if he or his children loop back into a cadet line of the Campbells and the chances of that are slim. Besides, Michael said that he wouldn’t meddle in the bloodlines anymore anyway. There’s nothing to worry about. Without Michael and Raphael manipulating things, the only way it can happen is when it’s time for it to happen at which point none of us will be able to stop it anyway. Who can stand against God after all, and he is who will have to put it in motion.”

Hjert sighed with relief. He still didn’t like thinking about the end of the world coming someday. Especially since he was now immortal and might actually live to see it, but he couldn’t deny that Loki was right. Not even the archangels could stand against God. 

Life after that settled into a comfortable routine as relationships continued to build. Thor and Michael had a really rough time of it at first. The other’s got very good at clearing the room quickly when they got into it, but it slowly settled down and a year after they had gotten together they managed to settle into a solid relationship. Neither were in any rush to bond though, even if they did have a big fight looming on the horizon. Loki and Michael’s relationship was also going strong, and Loki felt almost ready to let go of the last bit of resentment and accept Michael as a brother to be able to anchor his grace. Hjert had found it easiest to forgive the archangel, but then forgiveness was in his nature, and they had become quite close. Michael had even told him once that Hjert reminded him a great deal of Lucifer the way he was before the curse twisted him. He wondered if that had anything to do with being his vessel, but didn’t quite have the courage to ask. Cas had slowly become more comfortable with his oldest brother, and Michael was quite interested in the free angel community, but for a far different reason than last time. He hoped to find a way to bring them home eventually, to a much-changed heaven. Even Styrk had come to see Michael as a brother, though it was a far more antagonistic brotherly relationship than most, but the real heat had gone out of their interactions. 

They had been there for just a few months shy of two years before Loki sought out Michael for the big talk. He asked him to come out to the crystal garden with him. That had become the usual place for the most serious conversations due to the properties of the area. Once they were seated in the grass, Loki asked, “Do you still wish you could kill yourself?” He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he wanted to be sure. 

“In a way, yes. I probably always will to some degree, but despite the fact that I know that nothing I could do could even begin to make up for all that I destroyed, I still feel it’s my responsibility to try. Even to my last breath if necessary. Besides, I have Thor to think about now. He’s already lost too much because of me. I can’t take this away from him too,” Michael told him honestly. 

“Good. I’m glad to hear that. You know that I’m proud of you, don’t you? I mean, yeah. You screwed up royally. You did things that were completely unforgivable. Too many things. But you owned up to it. You admitted your mistakes, and you’re doing your best to fix them. That takes courage and perseverance. Especially in the face of hostility like you’ve faced here. You’ve changed for the better and I’d be proud to call you brother again, if you’ll have me.”

Michael just blinked at him for a moment as he tried to process the words, before he reached out and pulled Loki into a crushing hug. “Of course, I’ll have you baby brother. Thank you,” he managed to say before he was too choked up to say anything else. Loki relaxed into the embrace and let his big brother cry on him while he rubbed his back soothingly. 

Once Michael had collected himself, Loki asked, “Do you want to go ahead and try to let me heal your grace? Or do you need some more time?” 

“I don’t know. I don’t know how Thor feels about this or any of the others even. It seems like it should be discussed first I should think,” Michael said hesitantly. 

“I already discussed it with them last night. I wanted their thoughts before I offered, and they were all for it. Thor especially seemed glad. If you want to take some time and talk to them too, you’re welcome to. There’s no rush.”

“Yeah. I think I do want to discuss it. At least a little bit,” Michael admitted and Loki nodded as they got up and headed back to the house. 

The next day, it was decided. Thor wanted to be there, but Loki told him that the explosion of grace would be too dangerous for him. For any of them. He would ward up the pool house and do it in there, and everyone else had to promise to stay away. Hjert would be there at first so that he could help remove the cuffs, but once that was done, he would be high-tailing it out of there as fast as possible. There would be very little time. Once they were ready, Loki had Michael lay down. He knew that the archangel wasn’t really familiar with the specifics of the cuffs he had on, so Loki felt the need to explain. “Once these cuffs are removed, your grace will begin to deteriorate very quickly, almost like making up for lost time. I’ll have to be quick to pull you back. Are you ready?” he asked. 

Michael just nodded nervously and braced himself for what was coming. He was familiar with the procedure and knew that it was far from pleasant, even without the rapid deterioration thrown in. Loki nodded to Hjert who reached down and removed his cuff, before vanishing in a flash of ice while Loki removed the other one and quickly reached out with his grace to anchor his brother before he slipped away. He could feel his grace fighting against the connection and strengthened it with pure will alone and finally Michael stopped fading. Now the hard part could begin. Loki’s brow was dripping with sweat as he worked frantically to repair Michael’s grace before his strength waned. If he lost his hold, he wouldn’t get another chance. This was a one-off thing, created just for this situation of genuine remorse. Otherwise, they could just keep going nuts and healing each other all the time and there would be no consequences. Should Michael ever fall again after this, there would be nothing and no one that could save him, save maybe their father. 

It took hours before Michael’s grace was clean and pure again, and Loki released his hold and slumped over on top of his brother unconscious. Michael winced as he opened his eyes. He was pretty sure that he kept himself from screaming, but couldn’t be sure. He knew theoretically that it would be painful, but nothing could have prepared him for that. It wasn’t until he slowly started to sit up, that he noticed that Loki was lying over top of him and he looked down in worry. It was taking some getting used to, using his grace again after nearly two years without it, but once he managed to get used to the sight, he could see that Loki was alright. He was just drained. He would probably be out for a couple days while he recharged. 

He picked Loki up and headed towards the house, ignoring his own lingering aches. He was quick to reassure everyone of Loki’s condition, and Hjert took his husband gently in his arms and disappeared upstairs with him. Thor quickly grabbed Michael and pulled him upstairs as well towards the room they had recently begun to share. There had been a bit of a sudden power shift in their relationship and they needed time alone to come to terms with that, expected or not.


	17. Chapter 17

The six of them stayed in the interdimensional house for a few more weeks while Loki got back up to full strength and they got used to the new dynamic now that Michael wasn’t essentially human anymore. Eventually though, they couldn’t justify staying away any longer and transported themselves back to the entry hall of the castle. They had decided that for safety’s sake, Michael would stay in the castle until the confrontation with Raphael which they hoped to encourage as quickly as possible. Thor went to Mattie and said, “Get the word out please, Michael is my soulmate and is to have free run of the castle.” 

She gaped at them for a moment, looking back and forth as if trying to understand how this happened. As one of the few people with any idea what really happened to his father, he felt that she deserved some sort of an explanation, at least for the rapid turnaround. “We just spent two years in a dimension where time does not pass. We have come to an accord and he will help us to stop the looming war with heaven with as little bloodshed as possible on both sides.” 

She blushed and nodded. She had never meant to make her king feel the need to explain himself to her. She quickly got the word out to the castle staff and asked, “Will you introduce him to the people or will he be restricted to the castle?”

“We will handle the current issue before deciding where to go from there. For now, he will stay in the castle.” She nodded and the six of them headed upstairs to their suite and they started to plan how they would handle the confrontation with Raphael, knowing of course, that all plans go out the window as soon as things kick off, but it’s still better than going in without one. 

It was only about an hour after they sat down before they received a note from Mattie that Bobby was there to see them. Thor sent a reply to send him up to them. He’d been in the castle often enough that he knew where their suite was and wouldn’t need a guide and he was well known enough not to need an escort either. After a perfunctory greeting, he turned to Styrk. “So, I got an interesting phone call a little while ago…” he said as a lead in. 

“About what?” Styrk asked confused. 

“Why the hell wouldn’t you tell me you had a kid?” he asked irritated. 

“What do you mean? I don’t have a kid,” Styrk said even more baffled than he had been before. 

“Well…” Hjert started and all eyes turned to him. “You know Lisa’s kid? Turns out he was yours. Loki could tell and he threw up some wards to keep him safe from anything that thought a Winchester was fair game.”

“What the hell?! Why wouldn’t you tell me?! How could you keep something like that from me?!” Styrk yelled. 

“It wasn’t my place. It was Lisa’s. And…well…honestly…we haven’t really had the best life for a kid anyway so I thought maybe it would be better that way,” he said sheepishly.

“Well you better find a way to work a kid into your life now. That phone call I got was from the foster care system. Seems the boy’s mother died, and she left a note that you were his father and my number was the only one they could get through on to try and find you,” Bobby jumped in before an argument could start. He definitely wasn’t going to take sides in that one. Especially when they both had good points. 

“But…why were they looking for me? I mean…I only met the kid once. Surely Lisa must have some family that would have a better claim on him than me,” Styrk said. 

“Apparently, she didn’t. It’s you or foster care, and you will not leave that poor boy in foster care,” Bobby ordered. 

“Of course, I won’t. He’s still my son…it’s just…” Styrk slumped on the couch and ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus…my son…I can’t believe…I mean…Can we even bring him here?” he asked looking at his brothers for some solution. 

“Of course, we can,” Thor said resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “We’re the kings. We can bring anyone we want here.”

“But…I mean…what do you guys think?” Styrk asked. 

“I think it would be nice to have a kid around again. And the advisors have been horribly anxious about us not having any lines of succession. If he wants to become one of us, that could be a decent solution,” Loki chimed in. “And even if he doesn’t want to become one of us, it would still be nice to have a kid around.”

“I don’t want to put him through the trials. He’s too young,” Styrk said firmly. “I think.” He looked into the distance in thought for a moment. “How old is he?” he asked. All this dimension hopping into different time streams was really messing with his sense of time. 

“According to the foster guy, he’s twelve,” Bobby told him. 

“Yeah. Definitely too young for the trials,” Styrk said with a nod. 

“There is precedent,” Thor said. “For humans that are brought in, their children can be brought in as well without having to undergo their own trials. Never for one so old and it would need the approval of the council, and there has never been a case in the line of succession which might make them a little more nervous, but it’s worth a shot,” he explained. 

“If that’s what he wants, we’ll pitch the idea. But we kinda have a brewing war to focus on first,” Styrk pointed out. 

“Go get your son, Styrk. He’ll be safe here in the castle. We’ll head off the war and then figure out what exactly to do with him,” Hjert suggested. 

“Wait a minute…what war?” Bobby asked and he got the cliffs notes version of everything that happened, including an introduction to Michael after which he punched the archangel in the jaw. “If you’re all good with him now, I’ll try to be, but I couldn’t let it go without some response. Odin was my friend,” he said in explanation and he got nods all around the room. 

“I know that apologies can never make it right, but I do apologize. It is one of my greatest regrets,” Michael said genuinely, not even protesting the pain in his jaw. 

That settled, Styrk and Bobby were set to go back to Bobby’s house, so Styrk could call the ‘foster guy’ as Bobby called him, but Loki called them to wait. “Take Hjert with you. Traveling in fire can be very uncomfortable for someone not used to it. Especially for their first time, and he’s already met Hjert before so better him than one of us.”

“Yeah. Good idea,” Styrk said with a grateful nod and the three of them headed out. As soon as they appeared in Bobby’s house, Styrk grabbed the phone and called the foster home. He asked for some more information on what happened to Lisa, not really wanting to make Ben talk about it and found that she had died of cancer and wished that she had talked to him. Told him Ben was his son and that she was sick. He might have been able to save her. Or at least Loki if it was beyond his limited healing abilities. He called from one of the burner phones so the caller ID wouldn’t give away where he was. He didn’t want to wait hours to go get his son because of driving time. He couldn’t exactly just be on the doorstep either though so he figured an hour away would be good enough and if not, they could just go hang. 

Styrk spent most of the hour pacing until it was finally time, and he grabbed Hjert and the Impala that they had left in Bobby’s care, and appeared in an abandoned shop in the area. Hjert had scouted around while Styrk was pacing. They drove out of the shop and the last few blocks to the group home where Ben had been since last night. 

They were first led to Mr. Jenkin’s office who motioned them to sit down and after introductions, he turned to Dean and said, “I understand that you weren’t a part of Benjamin’s life?”

“No. I didn’t even know he was my son until we got the call. I ran into him and Lisa a few years ago and spent a little time with them, and I had my suspicions, but she assured me that he wasn’t my son and I had no reason to think otherwise. If I had known, I would have been there,” he assured him. 

“Benjamin tells me you travel a lot for your job, but he didn’t say what it is you do.”

“I restore antique cars,” Dean lied smoothly. “It’s far easier for me to go to the car than to get the car to me. I do have a steady home though, and can easily work from there from now on and send someone else out on the out of town jobs. I know that Ben needs stability more than anything else right now.” He knew that he was laying it on a little thick, but he didn’t know if this weedy little man had the power to keep him from his son or not. 

“And your purpose here?” Mr. Jenkins asked Sam. 

“I was with my brother when he got the call. I live with him and our Uncle Bobby at the salvage yard so Ben will be seeing a lot of me. He also knows me too, from when we ran into them a few years ago, so I figured another familiar face wouldn’t hurt,” Sam explained. 

Mr. Jenkins just nodded. He had been concerned when he could find no employment history on the man in front of him, but if he worked at a family business, it wasn’t all that surprising. It seemed he also had a good support structure and a steady income. Granted he didn’t technically have the power to keep the boy away from his father, especially when it was the mother’s wishes, but if he had cause to be concerned for the child’s well-being, he could certainly make a case and at least delay things. Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case. “I’ll send for Benjamin and his things. You may want to take him by his mother’s house to pick up anything else he has there. He was only able to bring an overnight bag. Everything else she had is left to him for when he is of age. You are permitted to sell the house as long as the money goes into a trust for him.”

“Okay. That’s no problem. I’ll see about having someone close up the house and move all of her things into storage for him. I’ll let him decide what to do with everything when he’s older if he wants to keep the house or sell it.”

“We should also let him pick out some of Lisa’s stuff while he’s there to keep with him. Something to remember her by,” Sam suggested and Dean nodded. 

“How is he handling things?” Dean asked.

“I’m not sure, to be honest. Either it hasn’t really sunk in yet, or she was just sick for so long that he’s already done his grieving. He’s been more interested in meeting his father properly and going to a new home than he has been in talking about his mother,” Mr. Jenkins said concerned. 

“We’ll see if we can get him to open up a bit. I know a few people in town that can recommend a good grief counselor if we need one,” Sam promised. 

About that time, Ben came in with his overnight bag, and rushed over to Dean. So you really are my father?” he asked hopefully. “And I can come live with you?” 

“Yes, and yes,” Dean told him with a smile. “But first we’re gonna take you by your house so you can pick up anything else you wanna take with you and then we’ll head home.”


	18. Chapter 18

Once they were in the car headed to Lisa’s house, Ben started asking questions. “Do you still hunt monsters?”

“No, actually. We kinda have new jobs now,” Dean said trying to figure out how to break the news to him. “We even have new names. I’m Styrk now, but you can just call me Dad, of course, and Uncle Sam is now Uncle Hjert. You have some other uncles too that you’ll meet later.”

“What are your new jobs?” he asked curiously. 

“Well we got into a bit of trouble a while back and to help us out we got adopted and brought into a new family and…well…what do you know about pagan gods?”

“You mean like mythology stuff? That’s real?” he asked excitedly.

“Yep. It is. We are pagan gods now, and…” Sam started. 

“Can I be one too? I mean if you’re my dad that means I have to be like you right?”

“You might have to wait until you’re older. We don’t know yet. We have to see if they’ll let us make you one so young. It’s a difficult thing to make a human into a god. Most gods are born that way. You don’t have to become one though. We’ll teach you a little more about us and stuff and you can decide later,” Dean told him.

“So how come you still drive in a car? Can’t you fly or something cool like that?” 

“It’s really more like teleportation, but we couldn’t exactly let humans see us teleport in to get you and since we have the car with us and your mom’s house is close by we’re driving there. We’ll teleport back home from there once we get all your stuff. You’ll be going with your uncle though since his kind of teleporting is easier for your first time.”

“There are different kinds? What kinds?” he was a never-ending well of questions. 

“Well we all channel one of the four elements. I travel in fire, Hjert travels in ice. His is a little more comfortable for humans,” Dean told him as they pulled into the driveway. “Go ahead and grab anything you want to take with us. I’ll have everything else put away somewhere for you to go through another time,” he said glad to get a break from the questions. At least for a little while. He did offer to help, but Ben said he didn’t need any help so they sat on the couch waiting while Ben went up to his room to collect stuff. Neither of them were particularly worried about him not having what he needed. Not with Loki and Michael in the family to conjure anything needed. Clothing would probably need to be conjured anyway. The styles in Asgard were very different after all. He would let Ben have whatever gave him comfort though. 

When Ben came downstairs dragging two huge boxes, Sam and Dean got up to help him. “Okay. Uncle Hjert is gonna take you back home with your stuff, while I take the car back to Uncle Bobby’s and I’ll meet you there okay?” 

Ben nodded so Sam took his arm with one hand, put a hand on one of the boxes and told Ben to put his hand on the other box and they disappeared in a flash of ice, landing in the entrance hall. He would have taken Ben directly to the suite, but they needed to have Mattie send word that Ben would be in the castle. That and it gave him a chance to show his nephew around a bit. “Hey Mattie. This is Ben. He’s Styrk’s son, so he’ll be staying with us from now on. Can you get the word out for me?”

“Of course, my lord,” she said with a happy smile at the pre-teen who was looking around in awe. 

He thanked her and started to lead Ben towards the suite, already having sent his stuff up. “This is so cool. Is this a castle? Why did she call you ‘my lord’? Is it because you’re a god? Is she a goddess?” 

Hjert just laughed lightly at the stream of questions. “Yes, this is a castle. She called me that because I am a king, so is your dad. Yes, she is a goddess. With few exceptions everyone here is a god or goddess.”

“Even the kids? There are kids here right? Why are you kings? Does that mean I’m a prince?”

“Yes. Even the kids. There are kids in the village but you’re the only one in the castle right now. The god who adopted us was the king but he died not too long ago, and he wanted all four of his sons to be kings once he was gone. Technically you wouldn’t be a prince unless you became a god too. Since you’re human you can’t be in line for the throne.”

“Gods can die?” Ben asked suddenly quieter and less subdued. 

“Yes. Anything and everything can die, Ben, but there isn’t much that can kill a god. He just happened to find one of the few things that can,” he said putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. He had no intention of telling him how Odin died. Not anytime soon at least.

“So, you lost your dad like I lost my mom?” he asked sadly. 

“Yeah. I did. It’s really tough sometimes, but you know if you need someone to talk to about it, your dad and I are both here. So will your other uncles be. We all know how it feels.”

“Did you cry?” Ben asked. 

“Oh yes. I cried a lot. We all did. We loved him very much.” 

“You said something about other uncles,” Ben asked, changing the subject. 

“Yep, and here we are. Come on in and I’ll introduce you,” he said as they reached their suite. Once they were inside they saw that Styrk beat them back and Hjert started the introductions, but he didn’t get much farther than, “This is your Uncle Thor…” before Ben was bouncing up and down in excitement. 

“Thor? Really? Like from the avengers? I love those movies! I’ve seen them all a hundred times! And you’re really my uncle now?!”

Thor laughed heartily. “Yep. I’m your uncle. I’m not so much like the Thor in the movies though. I watched them too not very long ago. And this is your Uncle Loki. He’s nothing like the movies either,” he moved the attention off himself. 

“Loki? Aren’t you supposed to be a bad guy?” he asked confused and a little wary. 

Loki shook his head with an amused grin. “Nope. See me and Thor are brothers and sometimes brothers fight. One time, humans caught wind of one of our bigger fights and started to think we were enemies, but we’re not. He’s my best friend and my brother,” he explained. “I’m also married to your Uncle Hjert.”

“And this is my husband, Cas,” Styrk told him. 

“So, I have two dads now? Cool. There’s a boy in my class that has two dads. What do I call you? Pops? Papa? Dad number two?” 

Cas raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You can call me whatever you are more comfortable with,” he told him. 

“Hmm. I don’t know yet. I’ll let you know,” Ben said seriously before turning to the last person in the room that he hadn’t met. 

“And this is Uncle Thor’s boyfriend, Michael. He’s an archangel.”

“Michael the archangel? Like in the bible?” 

“The one and only,” Michael said with a warm smile. 

“This is so awesome!” Ben said again. “When do I get to meet the other kids? Will I still be going to school?”

“See, Ben, the thing is, right now we’re in a bit of a crisis here, so I’m gonna need you to stay in the castle. Just for a few days. I’ll see what we can do about getting some kids by to visit you if you want, but promise me you won’t leave until we say so?” Styrk said seriously. 

“Why? What’s happening?” 

“There’s a bad man who’s trying to start a war with us. We are going to take care of him soon, but until then, we need to know you’re safe okay?”

“Okay. I promise. But what about school?” Ben easily agreed. It would probably take more than a few days to explore the whole castle anyway. 

“We’re gonna see about getting you tutors for the normal subjects. The schools here focus just as much on learning to use powers as they do on other subjects, so you won’t be able to participate much. If you decide to become a god too, you’ll still need tutors to catch up with the others on how to use your powers,” Styrk explained. 

“So, I don’t get to go to school with any other kids?” Ben said crest-fallen. 

“No, but I promise once we get all our other issues handled, we’ll go to the fairgrounds often and I’ll make sure you get plenty of time with other kids, okay?” he promised. 

“Fairgrounds?!” Ben perked up at that and they all chuckled at his excitement. 

“For now, let me show you where your room is and then you can unpack and get settled in,” Loki offered cheerfully. He had created another room off of Styrk’s and Cas’ while they were gone so he showed Styrk and Hjert at the same time. 

“Cool!” Ben said as he looked around the room. It was much larger than his old room. In fact it was about the size of his old living room and kitchen put together. The bed looked like it could fit ten people and there were bookshelves and a large wardrobe, and a desk and chair too. 

“I can help you decorate it later if you want. I’m a conjurer so I can just think stuff up and make it appear,” Loki offered. 

“That’s so awesome,” Ben said excitedly already thinking up ideas for his room as the adults headed back out to the common room to resume their planning for Raphael.


	19. Chapter 19

While Ben was otherwise occupied they got into a quiet argument about who would go along on the confrontation with Raphael. The advisors were adamant that they not all go. Should the worst happen, Asgard would be left without a king and would be taken over by another pantheon, so at least one of them had to stay. “Well I’m going,” Thor said firmly and no one was going to argue with that. Michael was in the most danger and was his soulmate. It was his place to be at his side, but none of them were comfortable with it just being the two of them. 

“I’ll go too,” Styrk said. 

“No. You can’t go. You have Ben now. He just lost his mother. He can’t lose his father too,” Hjert protested. 

“I don’t plan on dying, Hjert,” he said with a roll of his eyes, despite knowing that was a possibility no matter how much they stacked the deck. “Besides, Loki can’t go because it would be too easy for him to betray his identity in a fight between archangels and I don’t think any of us like the idea of you going without him. That leaves me and Cas as the only other options and…no offense babe…but Cas doesn’t really have any powers to fight with. That leaves me. Or we let Michael and Thor go alone,” he said knowing that no one liked that option any more than anything else. Sure, Michael was a match for Raphael, so two would be a bonus, but three would be even better. With just two, there was still too much of a chance for mistakes and if something happened to Thor it would throw Michael off his game, probably fatally. 

Hjert huffed. He knew that Styrk had a point, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. “Have we even considered what would happen if he brings a whole army with him?” he asked trying to make sure all bases were covered. 

“He won’t. He’ll be fighting me. He won’t want any of the seraphs to know that I’m on the other side and risk them defecting to me,” Michael told him.

“Still there’s no reason to be reckless. I’ll have the army on standby ready to jump at a moment’s notice.”

“I don’t see why we don’t just have the army back Michael up,” Hjert said. 

“Because this is a fight between rulers. If we bring in an army, so will he, despite the issue of their loyalty,” Michael told him. “If we do it that way, he can sell it to the seraphs as me going to the pagans to overthrow heaven and keep most of them on his side. As long as we keep it between us, so will he. Having my soulmate and his brother at my side wouldn’t raise any eyebrows and he wouldn’t see them as a threat anyway.”

Hjert nodded. Michael knew Raphael best. Loki knew him second best and he wasn’t disputing Michael’s reasoning so he had to admit it had to be sound and they had no choice but to go along with it. Thor and Styrk would be armed with regular angel blades, not wanting the questions of where they’d gotten a second one if one of them took Loki’s, and their job would be to distract Raphael as much as possible and give Michael a chance to get a kill shot. They held Raphael just as responsible as their father’s fate, if not more so since he was the one who was the most responsible for setting Michael on the path that led him there, so this wasn’t just about preventing the war and protecting their people. This was personal. They only wished they could all be there. With any luck, Raphael would be cocky after having gotten the best of Michael before and they could use that against him. 

All that decided, Thor sent a note to Mattie to have her send a challenge to Raphael and set it for midday the next day in the same clearing where their father died and they had retrieved Michael. It would be a fitting place for Raphael to die. When Ben came out of his room, after unpacking he took one look at all the long faces and asked, “What’s going on?” 

“Uncle Thor, Michael and I are going into battle tomorrow to try to stop this war before it starts,” Styrk told him, knowing that he needed to know.

“You’re coming back though right? You won’t be fighting one of the things that can kill gods will you?” Ben asked worriedly. 

“I will be fighting one of those things, but it will be three against one. I will be coming back. Even if somehow I don’t, Cas will take care of you, along with Uncle Hjert and Uncle Loki. You won’t be alone again, no matter what. I promise,” Styrk told him. Ben was old enough to know that there could be no guarantees in battle, no matter how much the odds were in their favor, and there was still a chance, however slim, that he could fall, so wanted to reassure him and let him know what would happen to him if the worse came to pass. 

Ben rushed over and hugged him tightly around the middle. “Please come back,” he said shakily fighting tears. 

The others all looked at each other and came to a silent agreement. Hjert got up and placed a hand on Dean’s shoulder. “We’ll give you two some time alone,” he said as they all headed out of the room. Thor and Michael to spar out in the courtyard and the other three to the library. A few hours later, after Ben had gone to bed, Styrk stopped by the library and asked if someone could go back up and be there in case Ben woke up. He wanted to go out and work with Michael and Thor. The more they could get used to Michael’s style of fighting the smoother tomorrow would go. 

Cas, as Ben’s stepfather, felt it was more his place than anyone else’s and he quickly agreed, grabbing the book he had been perusing and heading upstairs. Hjert was going to follow him, but Loki held him back. Once the two of them were alone in the library, Hjert looked at Loki questioningly. “Styrk isn’t the only one who’s suddenly had parenting thrust of him. Let him feel like he’s doing something,” Loki explained. Hjert nodded. He hadn’t even thought of it that way. He wasn’t sure that Cas knew much about how to deal with a kid, but it was his job to muddle through the same any parent would. They would help him if he asked, but it would be far too easy for those of them more comfortable with the idea to take over and push him to the background if they weren’t careful. Once more he was caught off guard by his husband’s quiet wisdom. 

Cas went upstairs and read for a while, before going to bed himself and it was only a few hours later when he was woken by the sound of crying. He got up and quickly pinpointed the sound as coming from Ben’s room and he felt so completely out of his element. He pushed the fear and discomfort away, determined to prove that he could do this, and knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open a crack and asking, “May I come in?” 

He could just barely see Ben nod from where he was sitting on his bed hugging his knees to his chest as he cried so he came in and sat on the other end of the bed. “What is wrong?” he asked curiously, not knowing which of the many things that could have him upset he should address.

“I’m scared,” Ben said in a small voice. “I just…I lost mom and now I might lose dad too.”

Cas reached out and put a comforting hand on Ben’s shoulder, and was startled when the boy rushed forward and hugged him tightly. He began to pat his back in what he hoped was a soothing manner as he said, “Your father has spent his whole life fighting against impossible odds. He’s survived things no one ever should have. This time is different. This time he has every advantage and the odds are in his favor. If he can survive everything else, he can survive this too,” he assured his new stepson. 

“I just…I wish he didn’t have to do this. I wish we could help him somehow,” Ben sniffled feeling helpless. 

“I know. I wish that too, Ben. The best way we can help him is to stay safe and calm so that he isn’t distracted by worrying for us,” Cas told him. That was the hardest part for him to get used to about being human. He understood now the helplessness that the hunters had felt when he and Loki were fighting for them before they had become gods, and he didn’t like it. At least he wasn’t alone in that anymore though and he took comfort from that fact, and hopefully Ben would as well. 

“Okay,” Ben said with a nod as he tried to pull himself together. 

Cas realized how he may have taken that statement and rushed to clarify. “He isn’t here now, Ben. You can cry and be scared if you wish.” He didn’t want him to try and hold everything in all the time, rather than dealing with it and he wracked his brain trying to remember something that humans would do to help their children to feel better before a thought struck him. “How about we go out to the common room and have some hot cocoa?” he suggested. 

Ben nodded against his shoulder and peeled himself off Cas before following him into the other room. Cas headed into the kitchenette and started to make the cocoa. They didn’t have a full kitchen in the suite of course, but they had a small refridgerator and microwave as well as a decent supply of food, and sweets courtesy of Loki for when they didn’t want to go down to the large kitchen on the ground floor. He gave Ben his cocoa and had a cup for himself and the boy curled up to Cas’ side as they sipped cocoa and talked for a while, until Ben fell back asleep. Cas didn’t have the heart to move him, so he just pulled the cup from Ben’s hand and placed it, along with his own on the side table. He shifted so that he was more comfortable and closed his eyes and went back to sleep himself. When Styrk came by to check on them a few hours later, he smiled and covered them up with a throw blanket, pressing a kiss to each of their foreheads and waved his hand to clean the cups and put them away, before heading back out to the courtyard with the knowledge that they would be just fine.


	20. Chapter 20

Thor, Styrk, and Michael spent the entire night sparring until the sun came up and Thor sent him to go have breakfast with his husband and son. “Our time would better be spent practicing. I’ll have plenty of time with them after this is over,” Styrk protested. 

“You can’t be certain of that,” Thor pointed out a little harsher than intended remembering the time he sent his own father off, certain of the fact that he would come home. 

“Besides, it does us no good to go into battle already tired. We all need some time to rest and recuperate before it’s time. Nor does it do us any good to go into battle cocky and with the surety that we will win,” Michael added pointedly. 

“Exactly. So, take some time with your family, Styrk. We will meet back up an hour before midday for any final planning,” Thor said with a note of finality. Styrk just nodded and headed back to the suite to see if Cas and Ben were awake yet. 

Styrk arrived just in time to see the sleeping figures on the couch start to stir and gently shook them both the rest of the way awake. “Come on sleepyheads. Let’s head downstairs for breakfast,” he suggested. 

Fifteen minutes later they arrived in the informal dining hall to find Loki, Hjert, Michael, and Thor already waiting for them. They had decided to all have breakfast together as a family before splitting up into their smaller family units. Breakfast was filled with laughter and jokes as they all tried to forget what they would be doing later that day. 

After breakfast, Styrk and Cas decided to give Ben a more thorough tour of the castle and grounds which ended up taking the whole morning. When Styrk told them he had to go meet with Thor and Michael to get ready, Ben hugged him tightly again. “Papa and I decided that you don’t need to worry about us. We’ll be safe and calm so you don’t need to get distracted. Just go win and come home,” he said matter-of-factly.”

Styrk couldn’t help a small chuckle at that and he hugged Ben close. “I’m very glad to hear that kiddo. You take good care of your papa while I’m gone okay,” he said pressing a kiss to the top of Ben’s head and he nodded. Once Ben stepped back, Styrk pulled Cas into a kiss, that just barely stayed PG in front of Ben before hugging him and whispering, “Take care of him for me if I don’t come back, and just trust your instincts. He’s a good kid and you’ll do fine,” Styrk told him before pulling back and pressing one more quick kiss to his lips, ruffling Ben’s hair, and disappearing to the war room in a flash of fire. He would finally get a chance to wear his armor for more than ceremony. 

Once he was gone, Cas turned to Ben and said, “Come on, Ben. Why don’t we go get the ball and you can teach me how to play that game you were talking about last night…soccer?” He thought it would be best to keep them both busy for the time being. Ben grinned and took off up the stairs, Cas following at a more sedate pace, before they headed out to the courtyard where a very amusing tutorial took place and easily whiled away the next few hours.

 

Styrk, Thor, and Michael appeared in the clearing at the appointed time to find that Raphael had gotten there first. “So, it’s true then. You’ve allied yourself with filth and turned your back on heaven,” he sneered at Michael. 

“They are not filth, and everything I do is for heaven,” Michael shot back. “You would bring us to ruin and see your brothers and sisters die for nothing.”

“They are soldiers. They will do their duty, and cleansing the pagan filth from the world is something that should have been done long ago if we hadn’t been led astray by your weakness.”

“Then we have reached an impasse. Will you fight me for control of heaven, brother? Would you kill me to take my station?” Michael asked, hand gripping his blade tightly. 

“I WILL have control of heaven. Whether I have to kill you for it is your choice. I’ve bested you once already before you fled like a coward. Your pets will not make any difference. If you want heaven back, just try to take it,” Raphael spat. 

“I’m sorry it had to come to this, brother,” Michael said sadly before he attacked. What followed was a massive battle incorporating powers, weapons, and hand to hand combat. Thor and Styrk were doing their best to keep up, but even they had to admit they were completely outmatched by the two archangels. More than once their armor saved their lives, though it was less effective than it would normally have been with the amount of power the archangels held. It was created for use against pagans and would work well against seraphs as well, but archangels were a whole different ball game. They barely managed to be more than annoyances to Raphael, but in the end it was enough of a distraction for Michael to get the killing blow and as Raphael died in the ashes of his wings, Michael fell to his knees, partially from grief and partially from exhaustion and a combination of all of the minor to moderate injuries he’d received. 

Thor knelt behind him, and pulled Michael to his chest in a supportive gesture. He had no grief over the death of his enemy, but he had sympathy for the loss of his soulmate’s brother. Styrk felt a little out of place and after looking around for a minute, had an idea. He picked up Raphael’s blade and at Michael’s nod took it over to the tree that still held Odin’s blood and the mark of the blade. He used his fire and superheated it enough to melt down the blade, knowing that it only worked since the owner was dead, and formed the superheated alloy into words that sunk into the trunk of the tree. Above the stain it said, “Here fell Odin,” and below, “King of Asgard” He left the hilt of the blade and fused it with the hole that the tip had made so that it was sticking out of the blood stained area. 

While he was doing that, Michael collected himself and said, “I should go back to heaven. Let them know to stand down and start making some necessary changes.”

“Just remember not to throw too much at them too fast,” Thor reminded him as they got to their feet before pulling him in for a deep kiss. “And make sure you come back and see me often. I will miss you.”

“Once things are settled, we will figure out how to work the whole residence situation and we can be together more again. I greatly look forward to that day,” Michael said softly, caressing Thor’s cheek. “I…I love you Thor,” he said for the first time. It had taken a very long time to get to this point, but he wouldn’t change anything for the world. 

Thor couldn’t help the slight smile that graced his face at that as he leaned into his lover’s touch. “I love you, Michael,” he whispered, kissing him softly again. “Come back to me,” he pleaded. 

“As soon as I can,” Michael promised before he flew away. 

Thor closed his eyes and took a deep breath, collecting himself, before he turned his attention to Styrk’s project and felt his eyes fill with tears. He placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “It’s a fitting tribute,” he said solemnly. “Father has been avenged. And we did it without war.”

Styrk nodded and they headed back to the castle four hours after they had left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of part 3. Part 4 will focus on Ben and Bobby, other hunters, and the relationship with the free angels and the new heaven.


End file.
